Army deployed to quell Brazil anarchy

The military police demonstrated, waving guns and wearing masks

By Jan Rocha in Sao Paulo

Heavily armed soldiers have begun patrolling the streets of the Brazilian city of Salvador to restore calm following two days of looting and violence caused by the strike of the entire police force.

Sixteen people were reported to be killed during assaults and robberies and hospitals treated many with gunshot wounds.

Scores of shops were looted. It was reported that lorries full of armed men drew up outside some of them.

Pick-axe attacks

Cash machines were attacked with pick-axes and six banks were robbed at gunpoint before they all closed down.

Assaults on buses rose by 200%, before they were all withdrawn from service.

Some 2,000 troops have been sent from six different states to restore law and order in Salvador, one of the Brazil's main tourist centres.

The police force in the city and other towns in the state of Bahia are on strike for higher pay, but talks with the state authorities are deadlocked.

Defiance

The governor says he will not negotiate until they go back to work, but the strikers say they will only return when their leaders, who have been arrested or suspended, are reinstated.

The men of the military police force have appeared defiantly outside their barracks, waving guns and wearing masks.

Police wages are traditionally very low in Brazil and this is seen by many as one of the main causes of widespread police corruption and brutality.