Massive force for the World Cup

Brazilian officials said on Friday that 57,000 troops would team up with 100,000 police and other security officers to guard the 12 World Cup stadiums, as well as hotels and airports.

Defense Minister Celso Amorim told reporters at a press conference in the capital, Brasilia, on Friday, that Brazil was "perfectly prepared" to ensure security for both local residents and the hundreds of thousands of foreigners expected to travel to the country for the World Cup.

Officials put the cost of the extra security measures at $856 million (628 million euros), something that is not bound to go down well with many Brazilians - who argue that instead of spending millions on hosting the World Cup, the government should be putting money into things like health care, education and transport.

An estimated one million people took to the streets during last year's Confederations Cup, a dress rehearsal for this summer's tournament, in protests that at times turned violent. President Dilma Rousseff eventually took to the airwaves to pledge to address the protesters' concerns.

However, Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo told Friday's news conference that he did not expect demonstrations at the World Cup to be as big as the ones last year.

"According to the information we have, our feeling is that they will be smaller than what happened last June," he said.

However, the protests have continued and there have also been a number of strikes, with police, teachers, and bus drivers all walking off the job in the run-up to the World Cup.

Cardozo said that while peaceful protests would be allowed during the tournament, security forces would be prepared to deal with any problems, particularly if they threatened to disrupt any of the soccer games.

Defense Minister Amorim said that if any of the country's soldiers were forced to act, they would at first use non-lethal means.

"The presence of the armed forces is above all dissuasive," he said.

pfd/jr (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)