Brazil’s military to take on security duties in Rio

SAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil’s military will take over security in Rio de Janeiro after a spike in violence tainted the city’s Carnival celebration, President Michel Temer said Friday.

The military intervention, the first since the end of Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1988, will be in effect until December. Brazil’s Congress is expected to ratify the measure next week.

Mr. Temer labeled the intervention an “extreme measure” necessary to crack down on organized crime and drug trafficking that have overtaken the city of 6.5 million people.

“Enough,” he declared. “We won’t allow them to kill our present and assassinate our future.”

In the past year, homicides, assaults and thefts spiked to levels not seen in 15 years. Nearly 400 schools canceled classes because of violence last year, and 70 percent of the city’s residents have contemplated moving, according to a 2017 poll.

The chaos came to a head this week when gunfire, assaults on tourists and muggings marred the city’s largest event, Carnival. Both Rio’s mayor and the state governor were widely criticized for skipping town, as 6 million people gathered for the weeklong party that has become synonymous with the city.

“The failure to restore public security is due in part to a fundamental lack of leadership from the state governor and the mayor. Theyhave shown no interest or appetite to mount a serious response,” Robert Muggah, director of the Igarape Institute, a Rio-based think tank, told The Washington Post. “The [state’s] disastrous handling of public security during this year’s Carnival is symptomatic of deep, systematic neglect.”