(Bloomberg) -While Brazil is preparing to welcome tens of thousands of foreign visitors for the United Nations COP30 climate summit in Belém, it is generating security to combat two of the most entrenched problems of the Amazon region: the sexual exploitation of children and teens and organized crime, which comes from the urban river. Belém, a city of about 1.5 million people, expects more than 50,000 conference attendees – including heads of state, government officials, business leaders, activists and academics – from nearly 200 countries. This influx for the world’s largest climate event will push the city into the global spotlight, but also create opportunities for criminal activities, according to Rodney da Silva, director of the National Secretariat of Public Security. About 10,000 security officials at the state level will be patrolled during COP30, according to the government of Pará States, where Belém is the capital. For Brazil, the summit will test whether it can tame deep -rooted criminal economies, while an image of order projects on the world scene. In 2017, Belém was the 10th most violent city in the world by the NGO Mexico Citizens Council for Public Security. Since then, crime has decreased significantly, with the murdericides fell by 88% and robbery by 69%, according to official data. The state government gives the decline credit to measures such as increased street patrols, higher crime clearance rates and the regaining of the control of gang fines. The Amazon region also has the highest rate of sexual violence in Brazil in Brazil, according to a study by the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Brazilian Public Safety Forum. In Pará, there were an average of 13 cases a day in 2023. “Pará has a very weak history of exploiting children and adolescents,” Da Silva said. ‘We strengthen the prevention and combat actions from now to the event. We must preserve the country’s image abroad. ‘ Federal and local authorities have launched a special operation-Curupira-Mirim. (The name refers to COP30’s mascot Curupira, a forest viewing spirit in Brazilian folklore, while Mirim means ‘small’ in the indigenous Tupi language.) Officers will inspect hotels, bars, restaurants, brothels and transporters. According to the Secretariat of Public Safety of the State of Pará, owners of these institutions must prohibit access to unaccompanied minors. The operation also targeted the 42 Islands of Belém, where poor communities sit on the river next to the tourist cycling restaurants and beaches. Warship modeled on strategies used during the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in 2016 will be coordinated for COP30 by an integrated system that connects federal, state and municipal powers. Authorities map gang activities linked to territorial disputes, robbery and drug trafficking. Anti-gang supervised goes beyond the streets of the city, with air and river patrols along the Guama River and at the International Airport Val-de-Cans reinforcement through the Brazilian fleet and other federal units. To protect the vessels where some COP participants will remain, the largest active warship in Latin America will remain through the entire conference on the river, along with a dedicated security vessel for rapid response, according to a Bloomberg government document. Additional river patrols focus on the areas near the ships. Sexual exploitation and organized crime in pará are rooted in deep socio -economic inequality, poverty and marginalization. The state has one of Brazil’s largest shares of the population living under the poverty border. Belém has more than 200 favelas and urban communities, who live the largest percentage of residents living in slums of any Brazilian capital. As well as crime prevention efforts, the government is ready to deal with major protests on COP30. The largest, led by indigenous peoples, is expected to draw up to 5000 participants. It is a shift from the two most recent police, held in autocratic Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates, where public protests are limited. “Now people come to a country where protests occur very frequently,” said Ualame Machado, Pará’s public safety of public safety. In Belém he added: “We don’t have a day without one.” More stories like these are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP
Brazil walks on the policing of gangs, sex crime before the climate summit
