Terrorism top concern at Rio Olympics: security chief

Beltrame said “we receive bulletins on possible threats…, but we have the means to boost our forces where necessary”. “But I can say that today we are prepared”, he said.

This week the Brazilian army also launched a special operation called Operation Dynamo to inspect companies that are registered to legally hold explosives in an effort to ensure these do not find their way into the hands of potential aggressors ahead of the Olympics.

Brazil has never been the site of terrorist attacks, and is not regarded as a primary target for the terror group Islamic State (IS).

“There’s a tendency in Brazil to equate improving security with increasing security personnel”, said Lloyd Belton, a political and country risk analyst at the consultancy firm S-RM. A European diplomat who deals with security issues and spoke on condition of anonymity said preparations for the Games are being hampered by a lack of coordination and outright turf wars between the police, the military and the national intelligence agency, ABIN.

In an interview with NewsDay Sport yesterday from his base in the U.S., Makusha said he was working hard to get back to his best after another injury setback, which saw him missing the global Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championship and the recent Africa Games in August.

“Terrorism has always been, since our first event, our number one concern”. “The attacks to Paris were not to Paris, but to the civilized world….” Brazil’s federal police, a widely respected force that includes a professional counter-terrorism unit, has been lauded by many foreign governments for improving immigration controls in recent years and being more aggressive against worldwide fugitives.

“We were thinking about not coming but this exchange had been planned for a few time”, chief corporal Antonio José Marçalo told reporters.

The charges, filed by prosecutor Homero das Neves, said the police officer shot randomly without any proven aggression from drug dealers. “The geography of Paris is very similar to Rio, with big avenues for crowd dispersal”.