Brazilian Brethren in Sao Paulo state affected by gang uprising.

Igreja da Irmandade-Brasil (Church of the Brethren in Brazil) is requesting prayer following a wave of gang violence that has swept the state of Sao Paulo since last weekend. Sao Paulo is the country's largest state. The violence that has targeted the police and banks, and has burned public transportation buses began May 12, according to the BBC, and included uprisings at some 70 prisons.

Marcos Inhauser, national director for the Brethren mission in Brazil, requested prayers "for the people to be safe and have more emotional control in this situation, and for the authorities to have wisdom in seeking a cease-fire" with the criminal organization called "First Command of the Capital" that has orchestrated what Inhauser called terrorist-like violence.

"We have many people living in a very scary area" near a prison in the city of Hortolandia, Inhauser said, reporting on the situation as he stopped at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill., on his way to speak at a church planting conference at Bethany Seminary. About 25 church members and their families live near the prison in Hortolandia, which is a center for the gang of guerrillas and criminals involved in drug traffic and other crimes, Inhauser said.

In the meantime, human rights activists have criticized the police for their violent response, which they say has killed at least 33 presumed gang members and put innocent civilians in danger, the "Christian Science Monitor" reported yesterday May 18. The Monitor said violent confrontations between the police and the criminal organization were continuing, and that more than 150 people have been killed including 40 police.

The criminal organization is the result of a government decision to put guerrillas in custody along with the criminal population, Inhauser said. A kind of criminal union resulted, with a very well structured administration that has orchestrated the attacks, he said. "Another thing that scares is the level of coordination that they have," Inhauser said. For example, the violence is so well organized that members of the police force were attacked while off duty or at their homes.

The Sao Paulo area was brought to a standstill by the burnings of buses used for public transportation, shootings of policemen and civilians, fears of attacks on banks, and ensuing panic and mass traffic jams, Inhauser reported.

He added, "It was not an easy time to leave home."

Source: 5/22/2006 Newsline
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