Page 12 - aruba-today-20200222

A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 22 February 2020
Brazil deploys national guard after senator shot in strike

By DIANE JEANTET would not tolerate the ille-
Associated Press gal strike. The state secre-
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A tary said some 260 officers
Brazilian senator was shot were already under inves-
Wednesday as he tried tigation, and that any strik-
to intervene in a strike by ing policeman would be
military police demanding banned from receiving its
higher salaries in the north- salary and possibly fired.
eastern state of Ceara, Justice and Public Minister
prompting authorities to Sergio Moro said in a state-
deploy federal forces. ment Wednesday night it
Sen. Cid Gomes, a former would deploy federal forc-
governor of the state, re- es to help maintain order.
ceived a shot in the chest The federal police and fed-
and was taken to a nearby eral highway police have
hospital. A statement from also been sent to Sobral
the hospital released in the to ensure the security of
evening said the senator Gomes.
was in stable condition and The Brazil Forum of Public
breathing without medical Security, an independent
help. organization that tracks
A video circulating on national crime statistics,
television showed Gomes condemned the violence.
trying to drive a backhoe "However legitimate the
through the gate of a po- In this July 31, 2019 file photo, a police officer aims his weapon during an operation in the Mare public security officers' sal-
lice barrack, behind which complex slum of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ary demands are, it is unac-
balaclava-clad police offi- Associated Press ceptable that bad police-
cers were protesting. It also men spread fear and pan-
shows the moment when that separated his group negotiations with the state parked them in line block- ic among the population,"
the vehicle's windows were from the masked officers. to raise their pay. In Bra- ing nearby streets. a statement read.
being shot out. It wasn't im- One man standing amid zil, the military police are In the city of Sobral, where In 2017, hundreds of police
mediately clear where the the protesters could be in charge of patrolling the the 56-year-old former went on strike in Brazil's Es-
gunfire came from. heard yelling at him: "You streets, among other du- governor was injured, pirito Santo state and were
Shortly before heading to don't have the authority ties, and it is illegal for them men wearing balaclavas indicted. The standoff pro-
the protest, Gomes had to do this!" before a brief to strike. on-board police vehicles duced a wave of violence,
posted a video on Twitter physical altercation. Throughout the day, small forced businesses to shut looting and burning of bus-
sharing his anger and call- Minutes later, Gomes at- acts of vandalism have their doors for the day, on- es. Schools were closed,
ing for people to help him tempted to ram the back- occurred across the state. line news portal G1 report- and medical services and
end the strike. hoe through the barricade Masked men invaded ed. public transportation inter-
At the protest, Gomes was and was hit at least one several police barracks, The Public Security Sec- rupted. To stem the tumult,
seen with a bullhorn. "You bullet. smashing police window- retary said in a press con- the federal government
have five minutes to leave. An unknown number of of- shields and puncturing tires. ference around mid-day, deployed more than 3,000
Not one more," he warned ficers began a strike Tues- In one instance, men drove hours before Sen. Gomes troops from the military and
from behind the metal gate day, dissatisfied with the off with patrol cars and was shot, that authorities the national guard.q

Mexican suspect once lived with dead girl's family

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A male suspect had once her up, according to family
woman who allegedly took sought shelter at her home members. In Mexico City,
a seven-year-old girl away "because she said her hus- even grade-school stu-
from school to be killed band wanted to kill her." dents at public schools of-
may have lived with the The suspect later apparent- ten simply walk after class-
girl's family for a while in ly returned to her husband. es to meet parents waiting
Mexico City to escape do- While authorities have not on the sidewalks; authori-
mestic violence. revealed the cause of ties have now pledged to
The revelation may explain death or any abuse Fatima tighten controls to ensure a
why the girl identified only suffered before her death, parent or designated care-
as "Fatima" went willingly Garcia did say that police taker is there to meet them.
with the suspect - because found plastic zip ties that Separately, there were de-
she knew her. were apparently used to velopments in the death
Mexico City's police chief, restrain the girl at a house of a 5-month-old baby girl
Omar Garcia, said Thurs- near where she was ab- whose body was found in
day that the female sus- Relatives post a photo of Fatima, a 7-year-old girl who was ab- ducted on Mexico City's a vacant lot in the northern
ducted from the entrance of the Enrique C. Rebsamen primary
pect and her husband are school and later murdered, at her home in Mexico City, Mon- south side. state of Coahuila. Authori-
being held on charges they day, Feb. 17, 2020. Fatima was last seen on ties said Thursday that moth-
tried to bribe police into let- Associated Press video leaving her school on er apparently dumped her
ting them go. Authorities Feb. 11 with a woman who body there after the infant
hope to bring kidnapping The killing shocked Mexico The girl's mother, María was not her mother. That died of an illness, and then
or murder charges against after Fatima's body was Magdalena Antón, told day, her mother was about falsely reported she had
them soon. found in a plastic bag. Milenio television the fe- 15-20 minutes late to pick been abducted.q