Hundreds of police back on duty in paralyzed Brazil state

SAO PAULO — Several hundred military police returned to duty in Espirito Santo on Saturday, but authorities said a weeklong strike that has paralyzed the southeastern Brazilian state and led to a wave of homicides was not over.

Earlier, the defense minister appealed to “all of the good police officers” to return to the streets, even as he said that life was beginning to return to normal now that more than 3,000 federal troops are on patrol.

Late Saturday, 600 officers began doing just that, mustering in the state capital of Vitoria and four other towns, according to the Espirito Santo Public Safety Department. In photos handed out by the department, police, in uniform and not, could be seen lining up in formation in public squares. At least some of them then went out on patrol, according to Gustavo Tenorio, a spokesman for the department.

But Tenorio said the strike was not over, and that friends and relatives of the police officers are continuing to block their barracks, as they have for the last week, to demand higher pay for their loved ones. Those protests have prevented vehicles from exiting, thus paralyzing the force.

Earlier in the day, the government said the relatives had rejected an agreement, announced Friday, to end the standoff. Because members of the military police, who patrol Brazilian cities, are forbidden to strike, relatives of the officers took the lead, but state authorities have accused the officers themselves of being behind the movement.

The strike in Espirito Santo inspired a handful of much smaller family protests in neighboring Rio de Janeiro state on Friday and Saturday.

SILVIA IZQUIERDO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A police officer walks next to uniforms painted with red ink to symbolize blood during a protest Friday in Rio de Janeiro. A weeklong strike involving members of the military police has paralyzed the southeastern Brazilian state of Espirito Santo.