Brazilian police surround legislature in Salvador

Thousands of police strikers occupying part of the state legislature in the tense northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador vowed to resist Monday if government troops moved to evict them amid escalating violence reported to have claimed 83 lives. The police strike, which began six days ago, led to a wave of looting, assaults and at least 83 murders mainly in Salvador, capital of Bahia state, two weeks before the start of Carnival, which attracts tens of thousands of tourists. Saturday, a contingent of 3,500 army, navy and federal police took control of security in Bahia three days after leading police officers went on strike demanding higher pay. Strike leader Marcos Prisco on Monday vowed "to resist," warning that "if the army storms the building there could be a catastrophe," according to the Globo website G1. He said nearly 4,000 striking police and their families, including 300 children, were inside. Government troops early Monday surrounded the state legislative assembly and cut off electricity to force the strikers out. State officials said 83 murders were reported over the past six days, more than twice the number for the same period last year. Assaults and store lootings also increased. Sunday, a 40-member elite unit of the federal police arrived in Salvador, one of the 12 Brazilian cities that will host matches of the 2014 soccer World Cup, under orders to arrest the strike leaders that are demanding an amnesty, higher pay and better working conidtions. The O Estado de Sao Paulo daily reported that federal troops in armored vehicles and helicopters launched probing actions around the legislature overnight. "I can't control the reaction" of the strikers, Prisco told the G1 website."You could have armed troops against armed troops." "There are dozens of armed police who are demanding an amnesty and who are occupying part of the legislature," Robinson Almeida, a spokesman for the Bahia state secretariat, told AFP. The speaker of the state legislature, Marcelo Nilo, had called on the strikers to leave the building before midnight Sunday, after which the strike would be declared illegal and orders would be given to capture its leaders. "The assembly cannot be used as refuge by fugitives of justice," he said in a statement released by the Bahia administration." The strike and the spike in violence came just two weeks before millions of tourists were expected to arrive for Brazil's premier tourist event, the Carnival. Bahia, Brazil's fourth most populous state with a population of 13.6 million, is an important center for Carnival celebrations.