Brazil ready to ensure security at World Cup

Rio De Janeiro, Feb 19: Brazil is prepared to ensure the security of Brazilians and visitors during the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup games, President Dilma Rousseff said Tuesday.

Brazil has invested heavily in defence and is fully capable of handling security in the 12 cities hosting games during the June to July event, Xinhua quoted Rousseff as saying in an interview to a daily.

“Brazil is prepared to ensure the safety of its citizens and of visitors,” the president said, adding “federal government spending on security has amounted to 1.9 billion reals (about $790 million)”.

Rousseff detailed the government’s actions on security, saying they include “setting up integrated command and control centers in all host cities, strengthening port infrastructure, acquiring equipment to boost safety on highways and centralise security operations, and integrating communications between local and federal institutions”.