Violent Rio

Rio de Janeiro State Police Commander for the Rio metropolitan area Antonio Carlos Suarez David appears in the Vigario Geral favela, or slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dec. 15, 2005. Police occupied the slum after eight young people were kidnapped from there, allegedly by drug traffickers from a rival slum nearby. The kidnappings are the latest episode in a feud between the two slums run by drug traffickers from rival drug gangs, which has been going on for more that 20 years. The Vigario Geral slum was also site of an infamous massacre in 1993, in which police killed 21 people. Shootouts marked by indiscriminate shooting between rival drug gangs and the police are common in Rio and innocent bystanders have fallen victim to the deadly gunfire and the homicide rate of Rio rivals that of declared war zones.(AustralFoto/Douglas Engle)

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Rio de Janeiro State Police Commander for the Rio metropolitan area Antonio Carlos Suarez David appears in the Vigario Geral favela, or slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dec. 15, 2005. Police occupied the slum after eight young people were kidnapped from there, allegedly by drug traffickers from a rival slum nearby. The kidnappings are the latest episode in a feud between the two slums run by drug traffickers from rival drug gangs, which has been going on for more that 20 years. The Vigario Geral slum was also site of an infamous massacre in 1993, in which police killed 21 people. Shootouts marked by indiscriminate shooting between rival drug gangs and the police are common in Rio and innocent bystanders have fallen victim to the deadly gunfire and the homicide rate of Rio rivals that of declared war zones.(AustralFoto/Douglas Engle)

brazil slum drug violence police poverty