Brazil Sends in Troops after Police Strike Incites Crime

The Brazilian government has sent troops to the state of Bahia to restore order after a strike by militarized police set off a crime wave, authorities said Saturday.

The homicide rate in the state capital of Salvador was up 117% to 50 in the four days since the strike started Wednesday, according to figures from the government news service Agencia Brasil. A jump in looting and assaults also was reported.

Bahia's governor called the strike illegal.

"A group of police using reprehensible methods, spreading fear among the population, caused disturbances in some parts of the state," said Bahia Governor Jaques Wagner in a televised message.

At the governor's request, the government of Dilma Rousseff sent more than 2,500 federal troops to Bahia to bring the situation under control.

On Saturday, troops were seen patrolling the streets of Salvador, which is preparing to welcome millions of tourists for the annual Carnival festival.

Nevertheless, the climate of insecurity created by the strike resulted in 10% of air and hotel reservations being cancelled, Pedro Galvao, president of the Association of Travel Agencies of Bahia, told Brazil's O Globo newspaper.

The striking police are demanding a 50 percent increase in wages and better working conditions. The average wage for a military policeman is 1,500 reales, or about $867, per month.

Twelve arrest warrants already have been issued against the striking police, Wagner said.