Former Mayor of New York City Rudolph Giuliani visited the headquarters of the Organising Committee for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Cidade Nova neighbourhood in Rio and said he is impressed with the Games project. In a meeting with Luiz Fernando Corrêa, Rio 2016 Security Director, he praised the city’s preparations for the event and said he is ready to cooperate.

“I came here to get to know the Olympic Games project. We exchanged ideas about the security of major events and the way a large city prepares itself for such an important occasion. We are three years before the event but the project is already well advanced. I’m very impressed”, he said.

According to him, Brazil experiences a unique moment and should seize this opportunity to showcase itself to the rest of the world.

“Hosting the first South American edition of the Games is exciting. It’s a unique opportunity to show the country’s qualities to the rest of the world. Brazil is under the spotlight. Next year it will host the World Cup and then the Olympic Games afterwards. I’m sure it’ll be a positive experience”, he said.

A Golf aficionado, a sport that will be back in the Rio 2016 Olympic programme after a 112-year hiatus, Giuliani showed interest in the construction of the city’s first public Golf course, in Barra neighbourhood, which will be one of the Games’ greatest legacies and is expected to popularise the sport in Brazil.

“I enjoy all sports but I’m really addicted to Golf. If I have half an hour to spare, I go play Golf. It’s more than a hobby, more than a sport, more than fun, I’m really passionate about it”, Giuliani declared. He spared no compliments for Rio de Janeiro:

“Rio de Janeiro is really wonderful. I made a point of waking up early and went for a walk around Copacabana, it’s a very beautiful city”, he said.

‘We established an interesting channel for dialogue’, Luiz Fernando Corrêa says

Known for implementing the “zero tolerance” policy in New York, which considerably reduced crime rates in the city, Giuliani currently works as Security Consultant. According to Luiz Fernando Corrêa, Giuliani’s interest in Brazil is proof of the Games’ importance to the whole world.

“We showed him the size of the Games and their impact to the city. He is ready to give technical and consultancy support, besides putting his network of relations at our disposal. We established an interesting channel for dialogue. We’ll make new contact with his team in the next few months”, he said.

One thing former National Secretary of Public Security Luiz Fernando Corrêa has in common with Rudy Giuliani is their friendship with General Óscar Naranjo, national police chief of Colombia. However, their security policies are the precise opposite of each other.

“Giuliani has vast experience in public security policies in a city with great problems of urban violence. But the zero tolerance policy that made him famous is not suited for Latin culture. We follow the successful model of Bogotá and Medellín, which is citizen security, a model that I brought to Brazil and is used in the UPPs (Pacifying Police Units in Portuguese). From the beginning of Brazilian history, security in Brazil was about containing the favelas and since the 2007 Pan American Games we have brought this part of the population to the event”, Luiz Fernando explained.