The most worrisome part about Olympic security preparations may well be how confident Brazilian officials sound when they are talking about the subject.
(FOX)- “Brazil has been spared the worst of these tragedies of terrorism. They’re living in essentially a pre-9/11 world,” Sean Costigan, a security consultant and the author of the book “Terrornomics,” told Fox News Latino. “That, in essence, grants them a bit of luxury to think about crime as the [biggest] problem they need to deal with.”
Which may be why the U.S. has been motivated to get involved with Brazil’s efforts to prevent a terrorist attack at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Along with worries of the Zika virus and Rio de Janeiro’s readiness as host city, security and safety have been atop most people’s lists of concerns for the Games, especially given a surge in murders in Rio this year and recent terror attacks that have occurred in Europe and the U.S.
The crippling recession that has laid low Brazil’s economy has only exacerbated the already precarious situation of millions who live in the city’s favelas, or urban slums. A few athletes already saying they have been mugged at gunpoint, including members of both Spain’s and Australia’s sailing teams – one, a New Zealand jiu-jitsu athlete, was allegedly targeted by two Military Police officers who have since been arrested.
“Rio has become synonymous with crime,” Costigan said. “It’s natural for the government to focus its efforts on street crime given the tourists that are coming in.”