Page 12 - aruba-today-20170503

A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 3 May 2017
Rio de Janeiro on edge as police wage big anti-crime sweep

PETER PRENGAMAN The operation, which in- sweep set fire to several trailer as armed military po- conference.
YESICA FISCH cluded periodic shootouts buses and two commer- lice looked on. The burst of violence comes
Associated Press between police and gang- cial trucks. Buses burned for There were no immediate amid worries over rising
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Mili- sters, began in the morning. hours alongside a highway, reports of injuries. crime in Rio, which hosted
tary police launched a ma- By afternoon, 45 men were snarling traffic with heavy Roberto Sa, security sec- the 2016 Summer Olym-
jor anti-crime operation in under arrest and dozens of black smoke as a military retary for Rio de Janeiro pics. Several buses were
northern Rio de Janeiro on weapons, including auto- helicopter hovered over- state, said the offensive torched during a protest
Tuesday, arresting dozens matic rifles and grenades, head. Residents of the dis- was intended to stop an in- over pension reforms Fri-
of men and confiscating had been seized, authori- trict swarmed over one of cursion by one drug gang day, and earlier last week
automatic rifles in a sweep ties said. Three officers and the commercial trucks after into another’s territory. several people were killed
that led gang members to two gang members were flames subsided and car- “We are not going to oc- during shootouts between
burn public buses and left injured. ried away toothpaste and cupy (the area), but we will criminals and police in Ale-
the city that hosted last In retaliation, members of other goods they could keep a strong presence,” mao, one of the city’s larg-
year’s Olympics on edge. the gang targeted by the salvage from the charred Sa told reporters at a news est slums.q
Puerto Rico hit with lawsuits after litigation freeze ends

DANICA COTO than $240 million worth of
Associated Press interest owed, plus interest.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) The bonds are backed by
— Bondholders sued Puer- the island’s constitution.
to Rico on Tuesday in the The lawsuits are expected
first legal challenges to hit to be among several filed
the U.S. territory after the as bondholders seek to
expiration of a freeze on recover the money they
litigation that protected it invested in Puerto Rico
from lawsuits amid a deep government bonds. Puerto
economic crisis. Rico already faced about
A group representing those a dozen lawsuits before
who bought a portion of the litigation freeze was
the $16 billion worth of implemented as part of
bonds backed by Puerto a rescue package that
Rico’s sales tax said in its U.S. Congress approved
lawsuit that a government last year. The newest suits
plan to cut its $70 billion come after the administra-
debt is unconstitutional. tion of Gov. Ricardo Ros-
The group accused gov- sello failed to negotiate
ernment officials of strong- any deal with bondholders
arming it into what it called after the May 1 deadline of
“unfair, unjust, and illegally the litigation freeze. Puerto
punitive terms.” Rico has defaulted on $1.3
Another lawsuit filed by billion of principal owed
Ambac Assurance Corp. A woman holds a sign up to police that reads in Spanish “The people are awake. Today we’ll since the previous gover-
accuses the government make history” during a protest against looming austerity measures amid an economic crisis and nor declared the $70 billion
of illegally retaining $300 demanding an audit on the island’s debt to identify those responsible in San Juan, Puerto Rico. public debt load unpay-
million owed to bondhold- (AP Photo/Danica Coto) able in June 2015.
ers. The company said it Puerto Rico Chief of Staff
also has been forced to other lawsuits, one against Ambac argued that Puerto those who hold some $1.4 William Villafane told The
pay more than $52 million U.S. Treasury Secretary Rico has illegally diverted billion in general obligation Associated Press just hours
in insurance claims as a re- Steve Mnuchin seeking a rum tax revenue slated for bonds also filed a lawsuit before the freeze expired
sult of ongoing defaults by lien on rum taxes that his bondholders. against Puerto Rico. The that the government pre-
Puerto Rico’s government. department collects and Aurelius Investment LLC group said it is seeking in ferred to reach a deal with
Ambac also filed three later remits to Puerto Rico. and others who represent part to recuperate more bondholders. q
Gunmen attack Indian group in Brazil, injuring at least 7

STAN LEHMAN group who last week oc- by phone that the attackers was reduced by loggers, Last year, 61 people were
Associated Press cupied what they consider severed the hands of two miners and ranchers,” she killed in violence stemming
SAO PAULO (AP) — Men ancestral lands that are Gamela people. The state said. The attack came from land disputes, ac-
armed with rifles, clubs now being used as pas- government said no one about a week after police cording to the Brazil-based
and machetes attacked a ture for cattle. The council had their hands hacked off. in Brasilia shot tear gas and Pastoral Land Commission
group of Indians occupying charged that the attackers About 400 families, or some rubber bullets to disperse of the Catholic Church. Of
ranch land in Brazil’s north- were hired by ranchers. 2,000 people, comprise the thousands of indigenous this total, 13 were members
eastern state of Maranhao, The Maranhao state gov- Gamela group and they people who gathered out- of indigenous groups.
injuring at least seven peo- ernment said seven people occupy a territory of about side Congress demanding “Rural activists and indig-
ple, officials said Tuesday. were injured in Sunday’s 1,250 acres, Diniz said. She the demarcation of their enous leaders involved in
The Roman Catholic attack. The church group said Gamela leaders esti- lands. nLand disputes in- conflicts over land con-
Church’s Indigenous Mis- put the number at 13. No mate the group’s ancestral volving indigenous groups, tinue to face threats and
sionary Council said gun- deaths were reported. lands once covered 34,600 loggers, ranchers and violence in Brazil,” Human
men attacked members Rosimeire Diniz, one of the acres. small-scale farmers fre- Rights Watch said in its 2017
of the Gamela indigenous council’s coordinators, said “Over the years, their land quently turn violent in Brazil. World Report.q