The return to civil tranquility is the main task of the authorities of the northeast of Brazil. Author: EFE
BRAZIL, 16 March. “Over the past three days, criminal groups have attacked and set fire to public buildings, businesses and vehicles in Natal and 31 other cities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, where at least two or more people have died. more than 60 people were arrested, a violence that authorities attribute to dissatisfaction with changes made to the penitentiary system.
Rio Grande do Norte public security secretary Francisco Araujo confirmed that the spate of attacks is aimed at demanding “a number of privileges” from prisoners that were not granted, according to RT, which mentions the First Command of the Capital among these factions. the most powerful criminal organization in Brazil.
That groups use their people outside of prisons to exert pressure on public power through urban violence is a common occurrence in Brazil, comments RT, which reports that the order for these attacks came from the Alcasús prison, the largest central prison in Rio. grandi-doo. Norte, one of the most violent states in the country, where 27 people were killed in a clash between rival gangs in January 2017.
“In the penitentiary system, the situation only worsened after the massacre. Intimate visits are still prohibited, prisoners are given rotten food and cannot even have access to bleach to clean the overcrowded cells. It turned into a powder keg,” Giuliana Melo, a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), told O Globo.
The wave of violence affected public services, many city lines were suspended, as well as classes at schools and universities in various municipalities.
The Ministry of Justice has authorized the deployment of a Special Penitentiary Intervention Unit for a period of 30 days, which will “coordinate the activities of prisoner protection, surveillance and detention services.”
The ministry wanted to make it clear that this does not mean federal intervention – when the government decides to act in the state of Brasilia – but rather sending an interdisciplinary team that will only support “technically and legally integrated cooperation activities” to prisons. .
Rio Grande do Norte Governor Fatima Bezerra said she would conduct a “deep investigation” into the allegations.
The arrests seized dozens of firearms, explosive devices and gallons of gasoline for use in Molotov cocktails, as well as money, drugs, ammunition and stolen food, according to Brasil de Fato, which guarantees the man killed by police was a man. based in João Pessoa, accused of coordinating the Rio Grande do Norte attacks and of funding and distributing weapons to groups that encouraged street violence.
Source: Juventud Rebelde