The commander of a key Olympic security force "has stepped down and contracts for some basic safety equipment have yet to be awarded, heightening concerns about Brazil’s preparedness just four months before the start of the 2016 Rio games," according to Will Connors of the WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Brazil’s justice ministry confirmed Col. Adilson Moreira resigned. Moreira "headed one of several security forces involved in the games, the National Force for Public Security, which is sending about 10,000 police and other law enforcement staff to Rio."
The justice ministry "declined to disclose the reason" for Moreira’s departure, but Brazilian media reported that Moreira stepped down after sending an email to colleagues that was critical of President Dilma Rousseff. In the wake of the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks, Brazilian officials "are under pressure to tighten security for the most complex sporting event ever hosted by this seaside city" (WSJ, 4/1).
In London, Janet Tappin Coelho reported one of Brazil’s most senior security officials admitted that the country’s widening political crisis could lead to “international distrust” of arrangements for this summer’s Olympic Games.
The remarks by Brazil Secretary for Major Events at the Justice Ministry Andrei Rodrigues "followed the abrupt resignation of the commander of the national security force involved in the preparations for the Games in Rio de Janeiro."
Moreira’s departure came hours after Rousseff sacked the country’s Sports Minister, George Hilton, "in response to a decision by his own political grouping, the Brazilian Republican Party, to withdraw from her embattled coalition government." Critics dismissed Moreira's resignation as a "fit of political pique" designed to embarrass the government and undermine safety measures in the run-up to the Games. Rodrigues said the changes in key positions “are worrying,” adding, “All this political instability and turbulence along with the economic difficulties in the country is not good and could generate international distrust in the organization of the event” (INDEPENDENT, 4/1).
