Brazil's Government to Intervene in Rio Security Amid Violence

02/16/2018 - 11h22

Brazilian President Michel Temer has declared that the federal government will be intervening in the public security of Rio de Janeiro.

As a result, the Armed Forces will take control of the state's security responsibilities.

The federal government's idea is to extend the measure until December of 2018, although the final details of the decree will be squared away this Friday (the 16th).

The decree was drafted during a meeting on the evening of Thursday (the 15th) between the president and cabinet members Raul Jungmann (Defense), Sérgio Etchegoyen (Institutional Security Cabinet), Henrique Meirelles (Finance), Dyogo Oliveira (Planning) and Moreira Franco (the General-Secretary of the Presidency).

Also present were Rio governor Luiz Fernando Pezão and presidents of both houses of congress: Rodrigo Maia (DEM) and Eunício Oliveira (MDB), of the Senate.

According to the Federal Constitution, Congress must approve the decree within 10 days.

Folha has learned that General Braga Neto will be overseeing the intervention.

According to sources who attended the meeting, this would be the first time that an intervention is declared since the Constitution was adopted in 1988.

At the meeting, the president also discussed the possibility of creating a Public Security Ministry with attendees. The department may come into fruition on Friday.

The government had been discussing the issue in recent months but only decided to take action with the rise in violence that took place in Rio during Carnival.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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