International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 2, Spring 2020 | Page 91

Military Police Strike International Journal on Criminology In Brazil’s very recent history, multiple military police officer strikes have taken place in relation to salary demands. In February 2017, for example, the Military Police of the state of Espírito Santo ceased its activities, provoking an explosion of violence, in particular in relation to organized crime. In response, the state governor solicited the support of the federal government, which deployed the National Public Security Force and then the armed forces in order to restore order, particularly in the capital Vitória. Their concrete operations involved “classic” police work: street patrols, controlling civil disturbances, and so on. The people of Espírito Santo largely supported this initiative and complied with the orders of the Brazilian Army, which allowed calm to be restored until the state’s Military Police returned to work. A very similar situation occurred in the state of Rio Grande do Norte at the end of 2017. Truck Driver Strike In May and June 2018, unions representing self-employed truck drivers coordinated a blockage of the country’s highways, preventing the transport of goods and people. The chaos was such that people in every region of the country started to suffer from shortages of basic consumer goods and medicines. The President of the Republic, Michel Temer, then requested the use of the armed forces in order to guarantee the free circulation of people and the most essential goods for the population and infrastructure. There was a risk of confrontations with the truck drivers, whose demands concerning fuel prices were echoed by some of the general population. But, happily, negotiations allowed the armed forces to ensure minimal provisioning of cities. During the strike, the Brazilian Army performed no fewer than 948 vehicle escorts, 574 of those with the support of other government agencies or public security agencies. It also escorted 14,947 tanker trucks transporting diesel, gasoline, or biofuel (around 500 million liters of fuel), 455 tanker trucks transporting kerosene for aviation (a little more than 3 million liters of kerosene), 1,000 trucks transporting canisters of domestic gas, 753 food trucks, and 462 trucks carrying medicines and hospital equipment. Once again, the armed forces thus demonstrated to Brazilian society their “calm diligence” in the accomplishment of a mission, in accordance with their commitment to avoiding confrontation and seeking conciliation. 82