Violent Rio

Family, friends and supporters of Erismar Rodrigues Moreira, known as Bem-Te-Vi, attend his funeral at a cemetery of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 29, 2005. Bem-Te-Vi, nicknamed after a common bird in Brazil, was one of the most wanted drug traffickers and killed during a shootout with police in the Rocinha slum Oct. 28. The police celebrated the event as a victory in the on-going drug war in the city. About 20 percent of the residents of Rio live in slums and the drug trade is a viable option for work for people with few resources. Police have a virtual mandate from the government and population in general to deal with traffickers the way the see fit. The murder rate of Rio rivals that of declared war zones. With 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, Brazil has 25 percent more gun deaths at about 36,000, officially recorded, per year (about 98 per day).(AustralFoto/Douglas Engle)

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Family, friends and supporters of Erismar Rodrigues Moreira, known as Bem-Te-Vi, attend his funeral at a cemetery of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 29, 2005. Bem-Te-Vi, nicknamed after a common bird in Brazil, was one of the most wanted drug traffickers and killed during a shootout with police in the Rocinha slum Oct. 28. The police celebrated the event as a victory in the on-going drug war in the city. About 20 percent of the residents of Rio live in slums and the drug trade is a viable option for work for people with few resources. Police have a virtual mandate from the government and population in general to deal with traffickers the way the see fit. The murder rate of Rio rivals that of declared war zones. With 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, Brazil has 25 percent more gun deaths at about 36,000, officially recorded, per year (about 98 per day).(AustralFoto/Douglas Engle)

brazil drug violence war death murder police slum rio