Rio governor calls in army ahead of elections
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro's governor gave the go-ahead on Friday for Brazil's military to help quell violence and voter intimidation in the city's slums ahead of local elections in October.
The army has been called in to boost security for elections and other events before, but Globo newspaper said it was the first time that troops had been called in at such an early stage of campaigning.
The move follows complaints from several candidates that they have been threatened and blocked from campaigning by the heavily armed drug gangs and militias that dominate the city's hundreds of slums.
"Rio needs help to combat criminality. Rio de Janeiro's case is very serious, because we have drug traffickers and militants that dominate areas of the city," Governor Sergio Cabral told reporters in the beach-side city.
Cabral said the number of troops to be sent and the date would be set by the Superior Electoral Tribunal and state officials. He added that he intends to keep the troops there after the elections to help combat crime.
Cabral has presided over a policy of "confrontation" with drug gangs that has been criticized by human rights groups.
He says the more aggressive police response, one reason for a 25 percent increase to 1,330 in the number of suspects killed by police last year, is the only way of beating the gangs.
Cabral also called in federal troops to beef up security during the Pan-American games last year. But the military's reputation was bruised this year when 11 soldiers were accused of the murder of three young men from a slum the army was guarding.
The soldiers are in prison, accused of handing the men to a rival gang, who killed them. The army withdrew from the slum after the incident sparked riots by residents.
Vera Malaguti, a sociologist at the Rio Institute of Criminology, said the decision to call in the military was a clear sign that Cabral's policies had failed to improve security.
"It's not going to make any difference," she said. "It's taking the responsibility off his shoulders." (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
