Violent Rio

Denise Alves Tavares shows a photo of her son Douglas Roberto Alves, 16, wearing a red and black shirt 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, including Tavares' son, 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 20 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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Denise Alves Tavares shows a photo of her son Douglas Roberto Alves, 16, wearing a red and black shirt 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, including Tavares' son, 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 20 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