Rio violence erupts as Carnival nears
Brazilian official: 'There will be a response'
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) -- Brazil's Carnival capital was struck by apparent drug-related violence in the early hours of Monday as gangs burned buses and cars and warned shops to stay closed or face retaliation.
Police also said home-made bombs exploded in a posh district of the city, which is currently swarming with tourists for this week's Carnival jamboree starting on February 28. No-one was hurt.
State Security Secretary Josias Quintal told reporters after meeting the governor and police commanders that Brazil's most notorious drug lord, Fernandinho Beira-Mar, currently in in a maximum security prison in Rio, had ordered the violence in retaliation for tough police action against drug gangs.
"There will be a response. Police are in the streets," Quintal told reporters.
Quintal said the order to shut shops was aimed at creating "a wave of terror and climate of instability."
Destruction, looting
Seven buses and three cars were destroyed during the night and a police booth was sprayed with machine gun fire. A crowd of 50 people also looted a supermarket in the poorer northern part of Rio.
Bombs that exploded in the upscale Ipanema district shattered windows but did not hurt anyone, police said.
Many shops in the beachside Copacabana neighborhood and in the hillside Santa Teresa district did not open in the morning.
Last year, the state had to call in federal troops to guarantee safe voting during two rounds of presidential elections after criminals terrorized the city, also apparently on Beira-Mar's orders.
Voting then went off without a hitch.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
