Brazil to send troops to town bordering Venezuela

The Brazilian government says it plans to send troops to the border town of Pacaraima after residents there attacked Venezuelan migrants.

Government-run news agency Agencia Brasil said Sunday that the Public Security Ministry plans to send at least 60 soldiers of the elite National Force to Pacaraima. Calls to the ministry for details went unanswered.

Pacaraima is a major border crossing with Venezuela, where economic and political turmoil has driven tens of thousands to cross into Brazil over the past few years.

Authorities have said that Saturday’s violence erupted after a local storeowner was robbed, stabbed and beaten in an assault blamed on four migrants.

Groups of angry local residents then roamed the town hurling rocks at the immigrants and setting fire to their belongings.