COP30 events will be safe, Brazil official says after Rio violence

30/10/2025 7:16

Events next week in Rio and other Brazilian cities linked to the COP30 climate summit will be safe for visitors, a Brazilian ministry official said, seeking to reassure attendees after a bloody police crackdown on a drug gang that led to dozens of deaths.



The deadliest police operation in Brazil's history killed at least 132 people, public defenders said on Wednesday. Grisly images showed a favela street lined with corpses found overnight by local residents.



U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will join Brazilian officials in presiding over next month's summit, urged Brazil to mount a prompt investigation and to ensure any police action followed international human rights law and standards, his spokesman said.



"I can tell you that the secretary-general is gravely concerned by the large number of casualties during a police operation conducted yesterday in the favelas in Rio de Janeiro," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.



Rio's mayor and governor have insisted that the violence was part of a crackdown on crime and had nothing to do with the summit events being staged across three cities – Rio, Sao Paulo and the coastal Amazon city of Belem. Brazilian police held a security drill in Belem on Tuesday.