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Brazilian authorities arrested 10 terror suspects Thursday for allegedly discussing terrorist acts to be carried out at the Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro in August.
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The group did not know each other and contacted each other through messaging applications, where they discussed preparing for a terrorist attack at the games. The group was described as an “absolutely amateur cell, with no preparation at all” by Justice Minister Alexandre Moraes.
The “disorganized cell” was not believed to have any direct contact with the Islamic State group and all of the men arrested were Brazilian nationals, the Rio Times reported, though Moraes did say some of those arrested had pledged loyalty to the IS group.
"Today was the first operation against a supposed terrorist cell in Brazil … Brazil was not part of the coalition against IS but, because of the upcoming Olympics and because it will receive many foreigners, Brazil has become a target," Moraes was quoted by Reuters.
Brazil’s “interim” President Michel Temer called an emergency cabinet meeting in the wake of the first arrests under the country’s new anti-terrorism laws.
Temer and his all-white coup-imposed cabinet announced it would increase its spending on security personnel for the Rio games with around 85,000 in total, almost twice that of the 2012 London games.
Whilst Brazil continues to spend big on the Olympics, Temer has been imposing a range of harsh austerity measures, including raising the pension age to the highest in the world. He proposed pulling Brazil from several international bodies, and privatizing state-run airports.
Along with the Olympics comes big money for sponsorship and private interest including television rights and advertising. Whilst Brazil is Latin America’s biggest economy, it still suffers from high levels of inequality and is currently experiencing its worst economic recession since the Great Depression.
It remains to be seen whether the money spend on the Olympics will benefit the Brazilian population as a whole.
Only 13 days out from the event, the arrests of alleged terrorists, Russia’s ban for doping, the ongoing impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff, and the Zika virus have given Brazil a less-than-ideal preparation for the games starting Aug. 5.
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