Agenzia Fides

Sao Salvador da Bahia (Agenzia Fides) - The police continue the strike and the people of Bahia, state in northeastern Brazil, live in anguish. In just six days there have been 87 murders, the result of criminal acts, and is in a wave of ransacking. Government officials of Bahia and associations of the military police in the Brazilian state met two days ago, with the Church as mediator, to try to resolve the dispute over wages.
In the residence of the Archbishop of Sao Salvador da Bahia and Primate of Brazil, Mgr. Murilo Sebastião Ramos Krieger, S.C.I., the parties sought to end the strike, but still has not solved the problem. This is the second attempt of negotiations. The first (4 days ago) lasted 10 hours. The spokesman for the archdiocese, Father Manoel Ribeiro, explained that the position of the associations concerning the counterproposal made by the government of Bahia is being debated. The governor of Bahia, Jaques Wagner, believes that negotiations with the military police are progressing and took the opportunity to urge the police not to abandon the people to themselves. But Wagner also said that there will be no amnesty for those responsible for acts of vandalism. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 09/02/2012)