By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil  — Over the last week, the murder rate in Salvador has doubled as police officers walked off the job in an organized strike over a week ago. Police all across the country are demanding better pay and benefits as well as a national minimum wage for all uniformed forces. According to the Brazilian Association of Tourism Agencies, at least 10 percent of tourists have already canceled their trips to Rio for Carnival out of fear for their safety.

More than 1000 police officers and firefighters gathered in downtown Rio on Thursday to protest their low wages. The Brazilian government arrested 16 leaders of the strike on Friday and over 100 officers could face summary expulsion for not showing up for patrols.

According to David Fleischer, a political scientists at the University of Brasilia, the government of Rio is coming down with an “iron fist” in order to halt the chaos in Rio before Carnival. “Police in Rio had been doing an excellent job of improving safety in the city, so this is unexpected and extremely embarrassing,” he said.

Although Brazil now has the sixth-largest economy, the recent strike has called into question the country’s ability to put on two of the largest sporting events in the world — the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. Safety in most major cities in Brazil has been improving of the last couple years, but crime is still a problem and may be contributed to the low wages and corruption of police officers.

Since the strike began in the metropolitan area of Salvador last week, roughly 150 people have died in Salvador and shopkeepers and tourists officials claim the economic damage is immense. Salvador holds the second largest Carnival festival in Brazil, attracting approximately 500,000 tourists each year. The state tourism secretariat says that tourists contribute about $300 million dollars into local economy each year during Carnival.

According to Jorge Cardeiro, a salesman at the high-end boutique, Projeto Axe Design, Carnival is a crucial time for Brazil’s economy and the police strike may have caused irreversible economic damage. “This place has been so empty it feels like sales are down 100 percent, but really they’ve fallen more than 70 percent. I don’t know how we’re going to make it up,” he said. The U.S. State Department has already issued an advisory warning to Americans against traveling to Salvador.

Although violence in Salvador seems to be cooling down, Intelligence officials are concerned after intercepting a cellphone conversation that revealed a plan by police officials to cause acts violence and vandalism in a strike that would extend to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. A violent strike in Rio could be more economically damaging than the strike in Salvador, especially during Carnival, where tourists already come concerned about their safety even with the police force working properly.

Military patrols are stepping in to help keep businesses open in Rio as preparations for Carnival street parades continue despite the tension.

For further information, please see:

CBS News – Crime Cutting into Brazil’s Carnivals Amid Strike – 11 February 2011

LA Times – Brazil Arrests Strike Leaders to Halt Police Work Stoppage in Rio – 11 February 2012

Reuters  – Brazil Police Strike Spreads to Rio Before Carnival – 10 February 2012

Washington Post – Rio Calm in 2nd Day of Police Strike With Low Adherence Rate – 10 February 2012

by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

BRASÍLIA, Brazil – Just recently the annual award for the “worst big company” was given to Brazilian company, Vale.  Close to 89,000 votes were placed online and Vale received just over 25,000 of them.

Vale is officially this year’s winner for having the most “contempt for the environment and human rights.”  The undesired award is co-organized by the Swiss nonprofit, the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland.  The award is an antagonistic response to the Davos summit hosted each year at this time by the World Economic Forum. 

The Davos coordinators and participants portray themselves as protectors of human rights but those critical of them note that they only represent the “privileged 1%.”  Its members are the 1,000 most profitable and powerful companies globally.

Vale is a mining company and a shareholder in the disputed Belo Monte dam project in Brazil.  As reported by the Public Eye, Vale is the second-largest corporation in Brazil and the second-largest mining corporation internationally as well.  They currently have operations in over 40 countries world-wide.

The company has a long history of abuses.  Reports over the years have cited; terrible working conditions, forced displacement of indigenous people on many of their projects, use of paramilitary leaders to repress indigenous leaders and incalculable environmental damages.  As well, health complications have arisen in the vicinities surrounding Vale’s coal-burning facilities.

The company’s operations in Brazil make up 4% of the carbon emissions in all of the country.  They use 1.2 billion cubic meters of water annually, which is enough to meet the needs of 22,000 people for a one year period.  They also dumped 114 million cubic meters of waste last year.   

The current Belo Monte project they are involved in has garnered media attention over the past year as the construction of the dam threatens to displace thousands of indigenous people by flooding the land on which they currently reside.  The company’s response to the award, aimed at shaming them into better behavior, was denial.

“Those who have chosen to misrepresent Vale’s record cite our participation on the Belo Monte Project, where we hold a 9% share…[c]learly, we are a minority shareholder” was the response posted.

Those responsible for the award are anxious to see more transparency in big businesses and that the leaders of these companies get held to a higher standard of credibility.  The goal is not as simple as embarrassing the companies; but rather to demonstrate that lack of regulations allows them to get away with blatant disregard for human and environmental rights around the world.

For more information, please see;

Latin America Press – Vale Wins “Worst Company” Award – 2 February 2012

Common Dreams – Unique Awards Highlight Corporate Irresponsibility – 29 January 2012

The Guardian – Public Eye Award Singles Out Mining Company Vale, Barclay – 27 January 2012

Reuters – Davos Elite’s Largesse Fails to Appease Critics – 27 January 2012