NEWS IN ENGLISH – Obama security concerns close down part of Copacabana

allen — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:38:29 +0000

Cristiane Ribeiro Reporter Agência Brasil

Rio de Janeiro – The decision to put president Barack Obama in the Marriot Hotel on Avenida Atlântica, Copacabana beach, resulted in one of the busiest areas in the city waking up with a very visible security presence. The block where the hotel is located has been isolated. Only guests can enter the hotel and they must go through metal detectors. The air space over Copacabana has also been closed except for police helicopters. Offshore, in front of the hotel, a naval vessel is on watch.

A silence protest demonstration took place in front of the Marriot Hotel this morning by around 50 people who are relatives of passengers on a commercial plane that crashed in 2006 after an executive jet piloted by two Americans glanced off it in midair. The executive jet (a Brazilian-made Embraer Legacy) was slightly damaged and managed to land safely, but the other plane (a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 ) crashed killing all 154 passengers. The protestors are demanding that the American pilots be held legally responsible for the accident.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English - content modified

Link - Copacabana tem segurança reforçada nas proximidades de hotel em que família Obama está hospedada