Brazil’s Defense Minister in Rio to Announce Security Plan

By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Defense Minister Raul Jungmann was in Rio de Janeiro yesterday (July 27th) to announce details for the National Security Plan, and talked about the “hard work” that would be done involving several agencies and called for the support of society, and stressed that one should not wait for “miracles”.

The implementation of the plan in Rio will go until the end of 2018. In the description of the federal efforts, Jungmann said there will be a focus on three pillars: integration, intelligence and surprise.

The minister also said that there will be no ostentatious presence of the Armed Forces occupying the streets. According to Jungmann, the security measures will count on social actions that will be carried out by the Ministry of Social Development in different locations.

The minister said unlike what happened at other times in the city, there will not be Armed Forces regularly stationed. “At least in principle, [there will not be] the classic actions of occupation of hills and communities. It will not be that.”

The idea is to avoid a setback in security when the measures are finished. The minister recalled the military occupation of the Complexo da Maré favelas, “The forces did a great job, but in the end, when they left, the situation returned to how it was because all the social infrastructure that was promised was not delivered.”

Adding, “So what we saw was something that cost R$400 million, at a very high cost and a very large effort by the Armed Forces, but which in the end did not result in what we wanted to happen.”

The minister took advantage of the opportunity to ask the public’s support for the plan. He warned of possible reactions from criminal factions, which will be affected by identifying, obstructing and destroying routes and locating the arsenals of trafficking.

“It must be taken into account that, given the progress and the point of Rio’s criminality, yes, we will have reactions. It is very important that society understands that it is necessary to face them,” he said.

The minister said he hoped that the participation of society would also take place at the political level. “Let the political representatives of Rio de Janeiro relieve their personal projects and even their indifference, but ensure the fight against crime.”

Jungmann suggested the formation of a task force in the state with the participation of the federal and state public ministries and defended the reduction of the time for the release of warrants for search and seizure.

“Although we understand the difficulty of the judiciary we can not wait fifteen days for search warrant and seizure. It’s not possible,” he said.

Regarding the so-called surprise factor, Jungmann said that there will be no previous announcements about the troops and territories where the operations will be carried out, nor the duration and costs of the actions to surprise the criminals.

“We are interested, in this logic, to reach and strike the crime to reduce its operational capacity,” he said.