States to Receive Federal Agents for Brazil Prison Crisis

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The government of Roraima state, in Northern Brazil should officially request on Monday (January 9th) that the federal government send in federal security forces to aid in maintaining public order in the state. Last week 33 inmates were brutally killed in one of three riots in Brazilian prisons this year alone.

According to local news some inmates, especially those in a provisional situation at the Monte Cristo facility, are receiving daily death threats and officials fear another riot. The reports also state that the entire city is uneasy about the recent developments.

“Some pharmacies, stores are closing earlier, out of fear of rebellion. That prisoners will escape the prisons and start killing everyone, taking hostages; this is very sad it has had never happened here in Roraima,” Aldenizia Laranjeira a resident of Boa Vista told a government new agency.

In an attempt to reduce the chronic overcrowding the state’s justice system also granted home detention for 161 inmates who had been in the semi-open regime, further increasing the tension of residents of Roraima’s capital city.

The tension in the state has been building up for some time, show local news reports. In November of 2016 the Roraima government asked for federal help after ten inmates were killed in the same penitentiary as those murdered last week, but the federal government denied the request.

While waiting for the official request from state authorities in Roraima, the federal government announced on Sunday that Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes had authorized federal security agents to be placed in the states of Amazonas, Rondonia and Mato Grosso.

The authorizations, according to federal officials, were granted after Brazil’s government received official requests from state governments.