RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Tuesday denied any intention to make a federal intervention in Roraima, its northernmost state that borders Venezuela and is facing an immigration crisis.
"An intervention was not considered," Institutional Security Minister Sergio Etchegoyen said. "We have been treating this situation with the measures we have, in a gradual manner."
Earlier in the day, President Michel Temer signed a decree to send armed forces to reinforce security in Roraima, which led to rumors about a federal intervention.
Since February, the state of Rio de Janeiro has been put under a public security federal intervention in response to a series of acts of violence. With the intervention, the federal government takes over the entire public security sector, which is usually under the state administration.
As for Roraima, the military will not "invade the state's competencies," Etchegoyen said, adding that interference would be made only if Roraima's governor requested it, which was not the case.
Brazil has experienced a sharp rise in the arrival of Venezuelan immigrants in the past year and a half. The majority of them enter through the small town of Pacaraima in Roraima, which recently witnessed tension following xenophobic attacks on Venezuelan immigrants.
