In a surprise decree issued on Friday 16 February, Brazilian President Michel Temer ordered that policing in the state of Rio de Janeiro be removed from the control of the state government and placed in the hands of the regional military commander, General Walter Souza Braga Netto.
The president insisted that this did not mean that the military would take over policing, but that General Braga Netto would have responsibility for coordinating the various security forces. The president’s move comes after high-profile acts of violence during the Rio carnival, and children killed in crossfire between drug gangs.
The Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Orani Tempesta, gave the measure a cautious welcome: “We hope that many issues will be settled that have been dragging on for years,” he said.
Meanwhile the Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters of Roraima, Brazil, have spoken out against three recent arson attacks in Boa Vista that targeted Venezuelan immigrants, injuring four adults and a child of three. Thousands of Venezuelans have entered Brazil – there are 40,000 in Boa Vista alone – fleeing the oppressive Caracas government.
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