beyondbrics

People visiting Rio de Janeiro for its fabulous Carnaval have always had to step carefully to avoid getting their pockets picked, or worse.

This year avoiding trouble will be a lot harder if police officers and fire fighters deliver on a threat to go on strike during the celebrations. In a letter to the FT – prompted by a beyondbrics report last week on the collapse of three buildings – the police union says public security in Rio de Janeiro is “living in crisis”.

An estimated 20,000 police officers, fire fighters and their supporters held a rally on Copacabana beach on Sunday to protest what unions say are the lowest police and fire service salaries in the country. Carlos dos Anjos, a police officer and union leader, wrote:

Police officers and fire-fighters are the ones now asking for help. These employees have to fill their free time with extra jobs, to provide better living conditions for their families. They earn the worst salaries in the whole country, a fact ignored by Sérgio Cabral, Rio’s current governor.

He added that Rio de Janeiro lacked the financial conditions to make the city safe for visitors during the Olympic Games, for which Rio will be host city in 2016 – two years after being co-host for the football World Cup.

The collapse of the three buildings last week has added to worries about the fragility of Rio’s urban infrastructure, where flooding and landslides cause heavy loss of life on an almost yearly basis. The city has also seen a rash of exploding manhole covers – one person died and two were injured in the latest reported incident on Monday morning.

Local media said the tallest building that collapsed was built in 1940 and the two smaller buildings in 1938. Authorities quickly ruled out a gas explosion and were focusing their attention on what appeared to be unauthorised works carried out in the tallest building that may have removed structural walls.

Related reading:
Rio de Janeiro: sun, sea, and exploding manholes, beyondbrics
Rio’s collapsing buildings raise doubts as World Cup and Olympics approach, beyondbrics
Rio eyes ‘Olympic bonds’ to fund 2016 games, FT