Rio’s new public security chief tackles rising crime

SAO PAULO – The Brazilian army general in charge of public security in Rio de Janeiro said in an interview published Sunday that social and economic plans are needed to address the causes of rising crime in the city.

Gen. Richard Fernandez Nunes was named Public Security Secretary last month after the federal government put the military in charge of Rio’s security forces amid a spike in violent crime.

In an interview with Rio’s O Globo newspaper, Nunes said the reduction of armed confrontations is one of his main goals, and he plans to end the “intensifying violence” that plagues the city. But he warned that army troops alone will not bring peace to violence-ridden communities where police and drug traffickers clash almost daily. He said a dialogue must also be created.

“Society resorts to absurd violence to resolve small problems,” Nunes said. “There is a climate of intolerance in which minor issues are dealt with violently, often with tragic consequences.”