Spanish Sailing Team Robbed in Rio -- Rio Roundup

(ATR) Three Spanish sailors training in Rio were robbed at gunpoint on May 21.

According to a release from the Spanish Olympic Committee Fernando Echavarri, 2008 gold medalist for the tornado class, Tara Pacheco, two-time world champion in the 470 class, and coach Santi Lopez-Vazquez were the victims of a robbery in Rio de Janeiro’s Santa Teresa neighborhood.

Requests for further comment and explanation from the COE and the Spanish Royal Sailing were not returned to Around the Rings. Local media reported a camera bag with money and sailing equipment were stolen.

Santa Teresa is known as a popular tourist destination in Rio, although it is known to locals as a secluded area with steep winding streets.

According to the statement five men with pistols assaulted the sailors as the three individuals were on their way to breakfast.

Rio 2016 told ATR they were aware of the situation and in contact with World Sailing but would not comment on an isolated incident.Security for the Olympics will be provided by the federal and Rio de Janeiro state government.

Recently released crime statistics from the state of Rio show that homicides are up 15 percent in the period of January to April compared to the same time in 2015. The Rio Public Security Institute said that in the same time frame street robberies had increased by 23.7 percent from the year before and carjackings increased by close to 20 percent.

Rio de Janeiro state secretary of security José Mariano Beltrame told local media that the increase in crime was based on the current economic crisis in Brazil and that he would ask the federal army to assist in securing the Games.

"The request of external (armed) forces for Rio de Janeiro is in order to release the police of the state to take care of the city, the citizen and the tourists," Beltrame said on May 19.

Over 85,000 security officials are expected to be used to protect the Games.

Protesters Call for Temer Resignation

Protesters in both Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have called for the resignation of acting President Michel Temer.

Local media reported that 2,000 protesters descended on Temer’s temporary residency in Sao Paulo, while an additional 1,000 gathered in Rio.

"We will camp out as long as we need," Guilherme Boulos, a homeless movement leader, said to local media in Sao Paulo. "This might be a fancy neighborhood, but now it will be all ours."

Brazil’s economy has drastically contracted over the past year due to the fallout from the revelation of a corruption scandal plaguing the state-run oil company Petrobras.

During the impeachment process of Dilma Rousseff many protesters expressed their dissatisfaction with vice-president Temer as well. Temer has sought to bring "confidence" back to Brazil after Rousseff was suspended for six months, but he is barred for running for re-election in 2018 due to a violation of campaign finance laws.

It has been suggested that Temer could face impeachment charges along the same lines as Rousseff faced, but the process must be ratified in court.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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