Brazil troops to stay in Rio slum after backing anti-gang assault

Marcelo Soares and Chris Kraul (Los Angeles Times)
December 1, 2010

Bogota, Colombia — After a two-pronged, weeklong assault on entrenched drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro slums, Brazilian army troops will remain in the city’s worst shantytown for at least six months to maintain order, the government announced Tuesday.

In a military-style invasion Sunday, 800 troops supported 1,800 riot police using armored cars and helicopters in a two-hour operation to pacify the Complexo do Alemao slum, a sanctuary for many of the city’s hardened traffickers. The operation left 50 dead, including three police officers. Authorities made 123 arrests. Significant caches of drugs and weapons were seized.

The Defense Ministry’s decision to keep the troops stationed in the slum came despite complaints from civic activists that the soldiers weren’t fit for a policing role and might only anger residents. Rio de Janeiro state Gov. Sergio Cabral, who made the request, argued that many of the troops have performed peacekeeping duty in Haiti.

Brazilian officials are feeling pressure to gain the upper hand on Rio’s violent drug gangs in advance of the 2014 World Cup soccer matches and the 2016 Olympic Games, which take place in Rio and other Brazilian cities. To deal with the city’s high crime rate, authorities are promising to add 60,000 police officers to the state’s forces by the time the Olympics start. Poverty and high rates of drug use have made Rio one of the continent’s most violent cities.