Brazil: Police fire rubber bullets at protesters

June 12, 2008

SAO PAULO SANTIAGO - Police in southern Brazil fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters who tried to invade a supermarket to protest high food prices, part of widespread demonstrations Wednesday across more than a dozen states.

Police commander Paulo Mendes Roberto Rodrigues said about 500 protesters in Porto Alegre were met by police in the parking lot of the supermarket and stopped from entering the store.

Protesters then threw rocks at officers, who responded with volleys of rubber bullets and tear gas, he said. The crowd dispersed but regrouped at a nearby plaza and blocked traffic on major roads.

Rodrigues said five demonstrators and six officers were injured, none seriously. About a dozen protesters were arrested.

On Tuesday, thousands of rural workers invaded dams, railways, plantations and corporate headquarters in protests across 13 Brazilian states.

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