Source: The Guardian<\/p>\n
Link:\u00a0https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/feb\/16\/brazilian-army-rio-de-janeiro-michel-temer<\/p>\n
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Brazilian president Michel Temer has signed a decree putting the military in charge of security in Rio de Janeiro, following a rise in street crime and drug gang violence.<\/p>\n
Massed robberies and gunfights during carnival, followed by a storm that killed four and caused chaos, have heightened a sense that the city is slipping out of control.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am taking this extreme measure because the circumstances demand it,\u201d Temer said after signing the decree on Friday. \u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The army has operated in Rio during the last year and\u00a0did so during the Olympics and the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Temer\u2019s decree will also put the army in charge of the city\u2019s police force \u2013 the first time\u00a0Brazil<\/a>\u00a0has taken such a decision since it introduced a new constitution in 1988 following two decades of military dictatorship.<\/p>\n It takes immediate effect, though a vote in Congress could overturn it, and lasts until the end of the year.<\/p>\n Security in Brazil is normally under the control of individual states. It will now be run by General Walter Braga Netto, who helped coordinate security during the Olympics two years ago, local media reported.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a recognition that there is serious instability in the state of Rio de Janeiro,\u201d said Roberto Dias, a professor of constitutional law at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in S\u00e3o Paulo. \u201cIt is very serious to suspend the autonomy of a state because the rule in a federation is autonomy.\u201d<\/p>\n Rio governor Luiz da Souza said the police alone had been unable to stop the gang war in the state and said that integration was needed at \u201cextreme moments\u201d.<\/p>\n Columnist Miriam Leit\u00e3o wrote that a proposal to remove Da Souza was considered and rejected because of the \u201cpsychological impact\u201d on electors.<\/p>\n Military intervention is a fraught subject for many Brazilians, though\u00a0many on the far right increasingly support a return to a military government<\/a>.<\/p>\n The decree came under attack from residents of Rio\u2019s favelas who have already felt the sharp end of policing by soldiers untrained for it.<\/p>\n