Rio de Janeiro Requests Assistance from Armed Forces in Patrolling City Streets

09/21/2017 - 10h51

Rio's Security Secretary requested assistance from the Federal Armed Forces in patrolling 103 locations in the capital metropolitan region, including expressways and their vicinities as well as communities at risk of conflict.

The request came nearly one month after a joint operation between the police and the Army in Rio and follows a weekend of intense conflict between rival criminal factions in communities throughout the city.

Requested at the end of July, a military reinforcement for security in Rio has been questioned due to the lack of joint operations - the last was held on August 21.

In interviews given in the last few days, Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said that the absence of troops is due to a lack of planning on the part of Rio's Security Secretary. But he reconfirmed that the Armed Forces are fully available to assist the state government.

On Wednesday (the 20th), Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão argued in a written communication for the continuation of the presence of the Armed Forces and said that the government of Rio "is willing to make the necessary adjustments in planning and execution for the operations".

Pezão emphasized, however, that the Army has made it clear that it doesn't want to stay in communities indefinitely, but only for temporary operations.

"We need this integration more than ever", he said in a written communication. "There have never been so many seizures in this State [...] More than 300 rifles have been seized [so far] this year".

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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	Mauro Pimentel/AFP
	Military troops patrol Botafogo neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil