Brazil & Southern Cone - August 2017 (ISSN 1741-4431)

On 28 July, over 10,000 troops once again descended upon Rio de Janeiro state. The troops – sent from the army, the federal highway police (PRF), and the national public security force – have been tasked with tackling rising crime in the state as part of the federal government’s national security plan.

Rio de Janeiro state residents are already used to the sight of soldiers on the streets. Troops were sent to reinforce security in 2014-2015 in the run-up to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games hosted by the eponymous state capital and to control the outbreak of the Zika virus in 2016. They were also on standby before carnival this year in case the local police force went on strike over poor pay and working conditions. Until now, the federal security forces’ presence in Rio de Janeiro has been short-lived. But this time the federal troops are scheduled to stay in Rio de Janeiro until at least 31 December 2017, under a decree issued by President Michel Temer.

The federal government has called in the troops after police operations failed to keep crime levels in Rio de Janeiro down. A 2008 initiative to introduce pacification units (UPPs) in the favelas (slums) that surround the state capital initially reduced crime rates in 2009-2014. But by 2015, crime rates started shooting up again. Following a series of human rights abuse cases, relations between police officers and local communities in the favelas began to deteriorate, leading to an increase in violence in these areas.

Meanwhile Brazil’s ongoing economic crisis has exacerbated long-standing problems within Rio de Janeiro’s state police force. Due to budget cuts, the police forces in Rio de Janeiro have been unable to hire new recruits or pay their existing staff any overtime due to a lack of funds, meaning fewer officers are out on patrol. Nevertheless, sending in federal troops to replace the police is no panacea. Cracking down on crime could provoke a counter-reaction, leading to a ‘war’ between criminal gangs and the security forces, according to the federal defence minister, Raul Jungmann. “Difficult and extraordinary times call for difficult and extraordinary decisions” but people “should not expect miraculous and immediate results”, Jungmann told local news outlet G1 on 27 July.

At present, the army is one of Brazil’s most trusted institutions. In a recent survey of 2,771 people conducted by Pesquisa Datafolha on 21-23 June, 40% of respondents said they trusted a great deal in the armed forces, compared to just 3% in the presidency and only 2% in political parties. However, it will be interesting to see whether that figure changes the longer the army remains in Rio de Janeiro. Some human rights activists fear the conflicts between the local authorities and favela residents could worsen unless the army builds stronger ties with the local community.

Crime Rates in Rio de Janeiro

Figures from Brazil’s public security institute (ISP) show that violent crime in Rio de Janeiro has shot up since 2016. In the first half of 2017, the greatest increase was in ‘autos de resistência’ – when someone dies during confrontation with the police – with 577 cases, up by 45% from the 396 cases recorded over the same period in 2016. The second greatest increase was in ‘latrocínio’, robbery followed by death, up by 21% with 138 cases, whilst homicide has seen the third greatest increase, with a total of 2,718 homicides, up by 10.9% (or 230 victims) compared with the same period in 2016. A total of 91 police officers have also been killed in Rio de Janeiro state since January, more than the total number of police deaths recorded in 2016. Gun crime in general is an increasing problem; Brazilian daily O Globo reported on 28 July that more than 600 people – an average of three per day – have fallen victim to stray bullets so far this year.

• Doria blags free security equipment in China

The mayor of the city of São Paulo, João Doria, has secured donations of surveillance equipment from two rival Chinese security technology firms during a recent visit to the city of Hangzhou, the capital of China’s eastern Zhejiang province. Doria persuaded rival firms, Hikvision and Dahua, to donate 1,000 CCTV cameras and a drone each to São Paulo’s ‘City Cameras’ scheme, part of the wider ‘safe city’ programme. Given São Paulo municipal government’s R$7.5bn (US$2.4bn) budget deficit, Doria made it clear that his administration had no choice but to request donations. But the firms were also invited to participate in a public-private partnership with the São Paulo municipal government to provide further public security services.