Vitoria Stone Fair Cancelled

VITÓRIA, Brazil — The 2017 edition of the Vitória Stone Fair / Marmo+Mac Latin America, the largest industry event in South America, was cancelled on Friday in the face of local unrest and concern for exhibitor/visitor safety.

Milanez & Milaneze, the event’s organizers, halted the show only four days before its Feb. 14 opening with an announcement on its website.

“This decision was made considering the multiple requests sent by the exhibitors and visitors of VITÓRIA STONE FAIR to the organizers of the event,” according to the announcement, “with the purpose of preserving the safety and integrity of our customers, exhibitors and visitors, and of all service providers committed to the event.

“We reaffirm the importance of this international event for the ornamental stone sector, and we reiterate our position to preserve the safety of those involved and hope to have everyone’s understanding.”

The move came after a weeklong work stoppage of police patrols in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo — which includes Vitória — led to street clashes and reportedly more than 130 deaths. Following a request by the state, Brazil’s federal government sent more than 3,000 troops to restore order.

During the week, Vitoria’s schools, clinics and public transport shut down, along with many businesses.

The expo, held annually, will not be rescheduled this year.

“This year’s edition is canceled, it does not have the slightest condition that it will be held on another date,” said Cecília Milanez Milaneze, company CEO, on the Folha Vitória website.

“We are thinking, first of all, of the safety of people,” he added. “We are having a lot of losses because of this situation and we can not let them increase any further.

“The event is almost ready, the stands are already set up, the participants are already in town. But they themselves asked for the fair to be canceled.”

A few hours after the announcement, Espírito Santo officials announced a settlement, with police scheduled to go back to work at 7 a.m. local time on Saturday. However, both the Associated Press and Reuters reported that the strike continued through Saturday.

The branch of law enforcement in question is the state’s Military Police, which — despite the name — is not part of Brazil’s armed forces and maintains public order with patrols and arrests. After a long-standing dispute with the Espírito Santo government over pay issues, family members of the police surrounded the force’s barracks (headquarters) and stopped patrol cars from departing.

The stoppage-by-surrounding is a tactic to circumvent Brazilian law that prohibits police from going on strike. Espírito Santo officials responded by threatening charges of insurrection against 703 police officers.

Police family members in Rio de Janeiro also demonstrated around barracks in that city, but they didn’t interfere with patrol traffic.

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