InSight Co-director Steven Dudley spoke with Taylor Barnes, a journalist based in Rio de Janeiro, about U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Brazil and Barnes' perceptions of the security strategy implemented in the city.
Barnes is based in Rio as the recipient of the Inter-American Press Association award, and writes for the Miami Herald and the Christian Science Monitor.
She has had a close-up view of the government's security strategy in the city, seeing first hand how Rio has sent in Police Pacification Units or UPPs, as they are known for their Portuguese acronym, into 16 shanty towns where criminal organizations once held sway.
In recent days, she has spent a lot of time in the 'favela' known as Cidade de Deus, made famous by the movie with the same name, and a place Obama is expected to visit during his short stay in the South American country.
Dudley spoke to Barnes via Skype.
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