Beltrame: Arrest of suspected terrorists does not change security for the Olympics.

Even with the arrest of ten Brazilians this Thursday (21), suspected of planning terrorist actions in the country and of links with the extremist Muslim group Islamic State (IS), the security planning for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will not be altered, according to the Secretary of Security of Rio de Janeiro, José Mariano Beltrame, who participated in a meeting of the Regional Integrated Security Executive Committee – Cesira/RJ, which had already been scheduled before the Federal Police's Operation Hashtag.

July 21, 2016, 23:43 pmUpdated June 29, 2018, 23:27 pm

Even with the arrest of ten Brazilians this Thursday (21), suspected of planning terrorist actions in the country and of links with the extremist Muslim group Islamic State (IS), the security planning for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will not be altered, according to the Secretary of Security of Rio de Janeiro, José Mariano Beltrame, who participated in a meeting of the Regional Integrated Security Executive Committee – Cesira/RJ, which had already been scheduled before the Federal Police's Operation Hashtag (Photo: Valter Lima)

Brazil Agency - Even with the arrest of ten Brazilians today (21), suspected of planning terrorist actions in the country and of links with the extremist Muslim group Islamic State (IS), the security planning for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will not be altered, according to the Secretary of Security of Rio de Janeiro, José Mariano Beltrame, who participated in a meeting of the Regional Integrated Security Executive Committee – Cesira/RJ, which had already been scheduled before the Federal Police's Operation Hashtag.

According to Beltrame, the state's security forces did not participate in the national operation and have no information about it. “Today's Cesir meeting was already scheduled, and even with the presence of state and federal intelligence officers, this did not bring any change to the situation. But we are still receiving information from the Federal Police. We don't yet have all the clarifications, and even if we did, I wouldn't comment on it because we need to effectively prepare and anticipate this event.”

Beltrame emphasized that intelligence operations are not discussed, but that it would be "reckless" to claim there is no concern whatsoever about terrorism. He recalled that the integrated security system has an intelligence center in Brasília, where 50 police officers from other countries are working together with the Federal Police and ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), and that, so far, there is no evidence of any terrorist activity in the country.

The secretary assured that all the planning for the Olympics is complete, will not be altered, and is the result of accumulated work on major events since 2007.
like the Pan American Games, Rio+20, the World Military Games, World Youth Day, the Confederations Cup, the World Cup, and now the Olympics.

Reinforcements from the Federal Highway Police arrived in Rio de Janeiro today and the other forces expected for the games will arrive by Monday (25), when operational activity related to the Olympics begins. According to the secretary, the R$ 2,9 billion released by the federal government to the state made it possible to resume security actions such as the State Integration Program in Security (Proeis), Additional Service Regime (RAS) and the payment of overtime, in addition to guaranteeing a force of 10.500 Military Police officers per day on the streets for the Olympic Games.

Beltrame also reported that he has already requested the presence of the National Security Force for the municipal elections in October.