Rio: City of God -- and the Devil

Summer crackdowns see crime and punishment soaring in the city.

ByABC News
January 14, 2008, 7:47 PM

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Jan. 15, 2007 — -- Summer in Rio not only are the temperatures rising, but the crime is heating up, as well. Barely a day goes by when the local papers don't have a front page story of the latest security operations in one of the city's many "favelas," or shanty towns, of civilians killed in the crossfire between police and drug traffickers, or of stray bullets injuring, and even causing death to ill-fated passers-by.

Such is the state of Rio de Janeiro, a city with an almost schizophrenic environment, all at once beautiful and wretched, immensely wealthy, and drowning in poverty. The city known in Portuguese as A Cidade Maravilhosa or The Marvelous City bears the marks of its contradictory nature everywhere. The shanty towns dot the hillsides, which, from the distance and even at night, lends a curiously bucolic air to these lush, rainforest-covered hills. The reality, however, is far from the romantic illusion.

The favelas embody the outcast nature of the city. They are enclaves of poverty, symbolizing illegality and, in turn, exclusion, and by all means, not just restricted to Rio de Janeiro take a look at any city here in Brazil, and within the city, you find the favelas.

At their most innocent, they are neighborhoods where the poorer communities gather to scrape a living, earning their chance in society. At their most sinister, they are sanctuaries of utter lawlessness, where the drug trafficker rules with a heavy, bloody hand.

In the past few days, incidents of gang violence have been heavily reported, as well as ongoing police raids in the favelas. On Friday, police mounted an anti-drug operation in Jacarezinho, a shanty town, which cascaded into a fierce gun battle. Seven people were killed, including a 3-year-old boy caught in the crossfire between police and traffickers.

Over the weekend, more violence precipitated throughout the city one of the main highways from the suburbs to the city had to be closed because of gun battles from ongoing raids.