Brazil To Deploy Federal
Troops In Rio To Secure
Election
RIO DE JANEIRO -
Brazil's federal troops
will arrive in Rio
within a week in order
to ensure the security
of this October's
election, Brazil's
Defense Minister Nelson
Jobim said Thursday.
"We will be at the
position in up to a
week," Jobim said after
a meeting with Carlos
Ayres Brito, president
of Brazil's Supreme
Electoral Court (TSE).
In August, the TSE asked
for the support of
federal troops, after
drug dealers and illegal
militia members stopped
candidates from
campaigning in some
parts of the city.
Gangsters also stopped
journalists from
entering the city's
slums to report on the
candidates' campaign.
The federal troops used
to be deployed only on
the election day. But
Sergio Cabral Filho, the
governor of Rio, has
expressed his hope for
the troops to remain for
a longer period of time,
even after October, due
to the current situation
in Rio.
According to Jobim,
groups of 450 to 900
soldiers of Brazil's
Armed Forces will be
stationed temporarily in
Rio's most critical
areas.
Rio's Electoral Court
will be in charge of
organizing the troops.
It will also define the
most dangerous areas.
The Defense Ministry and
the TSE will also decide
whether the troops will
be allowed to directly
confront lawbreakers
make any arrests.
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