Amid an uptick in violent crime and deepening economic crisis, Brazilian officials plan to secure Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics with the deployment of 85,000 soldiers and police. While this virtual army of security is expected to keep criminal elements at bay during the games, the city’s long-term security outlook remains bleak.
Officials have hinted that the massive deployment will include the temporary occupation of several of Rio’s large, marginalized favela neighborhoods in an effort to keep the organized criminal gangs based in those areas at bay during the games.
Muggings of athletes have sparked concerns about crime and safety during the August Olympic and September Paralympic Games. On June 19, two members of the Australian Paralympic team were mugged in Rio de Janeiro while training for the upcoming games. The incident did not take place in an isolated part of the city late at night, but rather at 7:30 a.m. near Flamengo beach in Rio’s wealthy southern neighborhoods. Previously, three members of the Spanish Olympic sailing team were mugged in the city in May.
After the latest mugging, Australia’s Olympic team urged Brazilian authorities to implement their Olympics security strategy earlier than anticipated. With the opening ceremony set for August 5, however, a cash-strapped Rio a “state of calamity” on June 17 amid a security and economic crisis, warning that it did not have the funds to complete a number of construction projects and guarantee public security.
Rio state has since been extended a lifeline in the form of a $850 million emergency loan from the US government. But with shootouts between police and organized crime groups occurring almost daily in the city — including in the vicinity of a number of Olympic venues — not everyone is convinced.
