Brazil's army sent to quell Rio favela violence
- Published
The Brazilian army was deployed in one of Rio de Janeiro's largest favelas, Rocinha, after six days of clashes between rival drug gangs. The shanty town is home to an estimated 70,000 people living on hillsides overlooking wealthy western Rio.
A major highway running past the shanty town was closed for hours because of a gun battle between the police and criminals that caused traffic jams on one of the city's main east-west arteries. Deep budget cuts to all Rio's public services because of the economic crisis has weakened police resources in the favelas.
Tens of thousands of students at a nearby university were ordered to stay at home and local schools remained closed. Gunshots could be heard from inside Rocinha and black smoke rose from the higher streets. Drug gang leaders have been returning to dispute their drug territories after having been temporarily ousted during the World Cup and the Olympics.
Violence is common in favelas, home to almost a quarter of Rio's population, with drug gangs controlling much of the territory. People have grown used to trying to carry out their daily lives against a background of permanent conflict between the police and drug gangs.
As the situation spun out of control, Defence Minister Raul Jungmann responded to pleas from locals for help to calm the situation and ordered 950 troops onto the streets, as well as 10 armoured cars. There were shootouts in four other favelas as well.
Locals said they hadn't seen anything as bad in years. BBC Brasil's Rio reporter, Julia Carneiro said people have been complaining that attention is given to the daily violence endured by favela dwellers only when it affects richer areas of the city. She said the armed forces have been patrolling Rio favelas since July to little effect.
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