Brazilian leaders said on Monday that the use of the military to combat rising violence in Rio de Janeiro could serve as a model for other violent areas of Brazil. The armed forces officially took over Rio’s police on Friday under a decree signed by president Michel Temer. The measure still requires congressional approval, and the lower house was to debate it late Monday.
Brazil's President Michel Temer on Friday handed the military full control of security in Rio de Janeiro in an increasingly desperate fight to tame runaway gang violence. Army patrols are already used in Rio's gang-ruled favelas, but a decree signed by Temer will now give the military full control of security operations in Rio state, which the president said had virtually been seized by organized crime gangs.