Rio Carnival to go ahead
Strike called off as animals get fancy dress
Police and firefighters in Rio de Janeiro have called off a weakened strike just a few days ahead of Carnival celebrations that will bring thousands of visitors to the city.
Demonstrators no longer were pushing for pay hikes but for the release of about 30 strikers jailed for taking part in the walkout, Ana Paula Matias, a spokesman for military police, told Globo television.
The strikes in fact did not disturb an animal carnival parade on Rio’s famous Copacabana Beach on Sunday.
Rio’s military police, which are separate from the armed forces, had joined with police and firefighters in their action to support a similar strike in the state of Bahia, where troops and federal police were deployed to impose order.
About 9,000 civilian police in Rio de Janeiro state joined the strike that started Friday when military police and firefighters walked off the job. Together, the three forces include about 70,000 public workers.
Brazilian law forbids police and firefighters from unionising or striking.
Brazilian authorities are scrambling to step up security ahead of major international events to be held in South America’s largest country: soccer’s World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 summer Olympics.