Temer orders Armed Forces intervention for Rio state security

Over the course of this morning (Feb 16), President Michel Temer and his advisers set the details for the intervention decree on the public security of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Members of the summit of the Brazilian Army have been meeting since early this morning on the details. The move transfers the responsibility of the public security of Rio de Janeiro to the hands of the Army.

Violence

During Carnival, which ended Tuesday (14), people of the city witnessed the plundering of supermarkets, mass robberies at street parties, people hit by stray bullets, and gunfights in several areas of the city over strategic drug trafficking spots.

The government's decision of curbing the increasing wave of violence in Rio de Janeiro was made Thursday evening (15), during a meeting attended by Rio Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, the president himself and his ministers. Temer is expected to make a public statement broadcast countrywide on TV and the radio to explain the population the reasons leading to the intervention.

During the meeting, which lasted five hours, the creation of the Public Security Ministry was also debated.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira