Brasília, 5/5/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Yesterday the president of the Industrial Federation of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan), Eduardo Eugenio Gouvêa Vieira, met with minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos, to discuss violence in Rio. Following the meeting, Vieira declared that it was his opinion that political and election problems should not interfere with public security.

The Firjan president said he was especially concerned with the situation in Rio. "It has become unbearable. Authorities at the federal, state and municipal levels must understand that it is time to set aside political and election problems and deal with the quality of life citizens have. This is a question of state," he declared.

Vieira said that the crime problem was due to a lack of coordination at the three levels of government. He pointed out that besides social problems, the level of violence was causing economic losses for the country by scaring investors away. He said Firjan was running a study on how violence was impacting industrial activity.

Last September the Firjan ran a survey of industrial workers and the effect of violence on them. The survey found that one out of every four workers had been the victim of some type of violence; most of them had been robbed at gunpoint.

Translator: Allen Bennett