Mayor of Rio dismisses security fears after recent violent outbreak

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

MAYOR of Rio Eduardo Paes insists the City of God will be safe for the 2016 Olympics, despite renewed security fears after at least 12 people were killed in a clash between police and drug gangs over the weekend.

 SAFETY FIRST: Mayor of Rio Eduardo Paes remains confident his city will be safe at the 2016 Olympics

Just 15 days after Rio was chosen to host the first South American Olympics in history, violence erupted in the northern slums of Rio, in which two police officers were killed as their helicopter was gunned down by drug traffickers.

Despite Rio's resounding victory in their bid to host the 2016 Olympics, obtaining 66 votes to Madrid's 32 in the final round, security fears in the favelas or slums that surround the city remains a thorny issue.

While the city's homicide rate dropped to 33 per 100,000 people last year from 39 per 100,000 the year before - the lowest for 17 years - it was still considerably higher than the rates of their competitors for the 2016 Olympics, with Chicago (18) being the closest.

It was also an issue raised by the International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission's report in September, and while it did not appear to hamper Rio's 2016 bid, the recent flare-up has returned the issue of security to the fore.

But Paes has dismissed that the city will be unsafe in seven year's time and remains adamant that initiatives such as Pronasci, aimed at alleviating social problems within the poorer neighbourhoods of Rio, will be a success.

"Firstly I would like to say that we never hid our problems throughout the bidding process," said Paes, in a presentation to the Global Sports Industry Congress in London.

"We always told people that we had our problems and that we would face them.

"And we remain confident that the policies we are introducing to Rio will make the situation much better and we are working towards developing a safe Games.

"We staged the Pan-American Games [in 2007] and it was safe, we have the Carnival and every New Year's Eve we have two million people on Copacabana Beach and that is safe.

"It is the challenge for us but we believe the city will be much more secure for all of our citizens. We know there is work to do but the Olympic Games and the [2014] World Cup is a great opportunity for us to bring the changes we want to.

"We look at Barcelona as an example. Before the 1992 Olympics there was one Barcelona and after that there was another and we want Rio to do the same."

The issues of gun-crime, drugs and poverty in Rio were thrown into the public eye in 2003 with the release of Academy Award-nominated film City of God - which depicts the growth of organised crime in the Rio slum Ciudad de Deus.

But Paes was quick to insist the image of Rio portrayed in the film, is nowhere near the reality of city and gave his backing to Rio Governor Sergio Cabral, who oversees city and state police.

"The film is a subject of a policy of ours. The area, in reality, is different to the movie. It is completely pacified and we remain confident that the work of Governor Cabral will have a positive effect," he added.

"We want to make the city a safe place to be during the Games but we want to do more than that. We want to make it always safe for the people of Rio and visitors to the city."

Meanwhile, Sir Craig Reedie, recently elected to the IOC Executive Board, and a member of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the 2016 Games, defended the decision to award the Olympics to Rio amid security problems.

"The report of the Evaluation Commission was very clear," said Reedie. "We spend a lot of time looking at the issue of security.

"I am very sorry about what happened in Rio but it pales in significance with what happened in London in 2005. Big cities are dangerous places."