LatinNews Daily Report - 05 April 2012

Brazil  | Beltrame insists Rocinha pacification on track. José  Mariano Beltrame,  Rio de Janeiro’s state security secretary, insisted on 4 April that the pacification programme in the large Rocinha favela, in the south of Rio, remained on track and would not be altered “by one millimeter” despite several weeks of renewed violence in the area. A military police officer was shot dead early on 4 April, becoming the first police officer to be killed in a pacified favela. Eight civilians have been killed in drug-gang related shootings in the district since February, prompting a significant increase in the security force presence in the area. Following recent press reports that drug gangs were offering big bribes to police officers, Beltrame insisted that guilty parties would be severely reprimanded.  He called for patience, noting, “We are not going to resolve in four months the problems created by drug trafficking during more than 40 years”.

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