Brazil uses army against criminal gangs

The Brazilian government has sent about 300 soldiers to the northern city of Fortaleza to curb the violence there.

It has been unsettling for days in Fortaleza and the other cities in the state of Ceará, where the Minister of Justice, Sergio Moro, has asked for troops. According to the authorities, the attacks are controlled by criminal gangs and are a protest against new stricter measures in local prisons. The prison authorities have blocked the signals from mobile phones in prison and have stopped the policy of classifying prisoners on the basis of the gangs to which they belong.