Brazil's Temer Announces Creation of Ministry for Public Security

02/19/2018 - 10h39

In a meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the President of Brazil, Michel Temer (MDB), announced the creation of a Ministry for Public Security.

The new ministry was a decision recently made by the Temer administration. President Temer confirmed it on Saturday, February 17, during a meeting to deal with the federal intervention in the security area in Rio de Janeiro.

In an announcement after the meeting, Temer said that the new ministry will coordinate the work in public security in the entire country.

The outline made by the government shows that the Federal Police, the Federal Road Police and the National Security Force will be under the new ministry, which will lead to a reduction of the tasks of the Ministry of Justice.

The head of the new ministry has not been announced yet. One of the candidates is José Mariano Beltrame, the former security secretary of Rio de Janeiro state.

The new ministry is part of the president's strategy to help his administration leave a mark in the area of security. An internal survey carried out by Temer's party showed that the issue of security is one of Brazilians' main worries for the presidential run this year.

Folha has learned that the new ministry will have extraordinary nature, which means that it will have a validity period and may be closed when the crisis in the sector reduces.

In the meeting, President Temer heard from Rio de Janeiro authorities and politicians that the situation of security in the state cannot be resolved without federal resources to reorganize the state police.

Those attending the meeting said that no arrangements for the operations in the intervention were made. No names to lead the state security forces were mentioned, either.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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