Brasília – Three days away from the beginning of the World Cup, the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations (MRE, in the Portuguese acronym) has already got 30 diplomats working at Command and Control centers installed in the 12 host-cities and also in Aracaju, Maceió and Vitória, where some national teams are training. The mission of these diplomats, who will be on duty roster, is to act as facilitators to help foreign governments provide consular assistance to their citizens.
The Brazilian diplomats may, for example, intermediate the contact between foreign consular services and Brazilian authorities in cases involving foreign citizens. The foreign ministry requested from the foreign embassies a contact list and hotlines numbers during the Cup.
Besides that, countries whose teams are participating in the Tournament will be granted consular officials inside the stadiums during their teams’ games. They may assist citizens who go to criminal and children services courts temporally installed inside the stadiums, in case of getting involved in quarrels, minors who got lost or other cases, allowing for faster solutions.
Without diplomatic representatives in the country, not even honorary consuls, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s government requested and was granted permission to open a temporary consulate in Rio de Janeiro, with consul officers to assist their citizens. The team will play in the first round against Argentina, Nigeria and Iran, in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Cuiabá and Salvador, respectively.
Chile requested facilities to install consular officers in Brazilian posts at the country’s border to support Chilean in transit. In the first round, Chile faces Australia, Spain and Holland in Cuiabá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, respectively.
The World Cup’s first game takes place this Thursday (12th), in Arena Corinthians stadium, in São Paulo. Brazil and Croatia will play at 5pm, after the opening ceremony. Over ten heads of state have already confirmed their attendance in the event, as well as Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
