This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26691258

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Rio de Janeiro seeks federal help to quell recent violence Rio de Janeiro to get federal troops to quell recent violence
(about 4 hours later)
The governor of Rio de Janeiro state is meeting Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff to discuss a series of recent attacks against police facilities. The government in Brazil says it will send federal troops to Rio de Janeiro to help deal with a spate of violent attacks targeting the city's police.
Governor Sergio Cabral is expected to ask for support from federal troops after three police bases were attacked on Thursday. The decision came after the governor of Rio de Janeiro state, Sergio Cabral, asked President Dilma Rousseff for government support ahead of the football World Cup in June.
At least one officer was shot. On Thursday, three police bases in the city were attacked by suspected gangs.
The police stations were set up in recent years to push drug dealers out of Rio's favelas or shanty towns, ahead of the football World Cup in June. Four police officers have been killed since February in similar attacks.
Just over a week ago, another policeman was shot dead in a similar attack. Three more have been killed since February. The attacks on police in Brazil's second largest city have heightened concerns about law and order ahead of the World Cup, which begins on 12 June. Seven World Cup matches, including the final, will be played in Rio.
"It is clear that criminals want to weaken our policy of pacification and take back territories which were in criminal hands for decades," Mr Cabral said ahead of the meeting with Ms Rousseff. Mr Cabral discussed the violence with President Rousseff in the capital, Brasilia, after Thursday's unrest in the northern Rio favela, or shanty town, of Manguinhos.
In Manguinhos, a shanty town in the north of Rio, police vehicles were set on fire on Thursday night and the police unit's commander was shot in the leg. Police vehicles were set on fire and the police unit's commander was shot in the leg.
Rio's authorities have been trying to rid the city's favelas of drug dealers.
"It is clear that criminals want to weaken our policy of pacification and take back territories which were in criminal hands for decades," Mr Cabral said ahead of his meeting.
"The state will not back down. The public may be sure we shall act," the governor said."The state will not back down. The public may be sure we shall act," the governor said.
In the past five years, the authorities in Rio have installed more than 30 police bases in favelas to drive out drug gangs. The authorities in Brasilia did not give say how many federal troops would be sent to Rio or when they would be deployed.
Correspondents say murders are down in those areas and the number of shootouts has dropped, but residents there have often accused the police of using heavy-handed tactics. Rio police have installed more than 30 bases in favelas in the past five years to drive out drug gangs.
The BBC's Julia Carneiro in Rio says the deaths of security forces in recent weeks have prompted some groups to express solidarity towards police and their families. Correspondents say murders have declined and the number of shootouts has dropped, but residents have often accused the police of using heavy-handed tactics.
The backlash to the police operations in Rio, Brazil's second largest city, has heightened concerns about law and order ahead of the World Cup, which begins on 12 June. The BBC's Julia Carneiro in Rio says the recent deaths among the security forces have prompted some groups to express solidarity with police and their families.
Seven World Cub matches, including the final, will be played in the city. Rio de Janeiro is to host South America's first Olympic Games in 2016 as well as this year's World Cup.
It will also host of the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first ever to held in South America.