Brazil has announced a security boost of around 70,000 officers to police this year's football World Cup.
In total, 170,000 people are expected to be deployed to guarantee security across the 12 host cities.A total of 150 000 armed services and public policing forces personnel will be diverted to the month-long event that kicks off on June 12, plus a further 20 000 trained private security officers hired to bolster security.
But Brazilian government officials acknowledged they were still concerned about the possibility of violence marring the tournament, following last year's unexpected demonstrations at the Confederations Cup.
More than a million people took to the streets during the warm-up event for the World Cup to protest against poor public services, corruption and the high cost of the stadiums.Since last June's Confederation Cup, protests have continued, though they have become smaller and more violent with anarchist groups vandalising store fronts and banks and clashing with police.
Any disruption of the World Cup, meant to mark Brazil's coming of age on the global stage, would embarrass President Dilma Rousseff's government and undermine her popularity as she prepares to seek re-election in October.
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