Brazilian army raids Rio slum before World Cup
Army occupies notorious shanty town on road from the international airport to Rio de Janeiro in advance of World Cup soccer tournament
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 05 April, 2014, 8:01pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 05 April, 2014, 8:33pm
Associated Press in Rio de Janeiro
A couple drink beer while soldiers enter to occupy the Mare 'favela' complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday. Photo: AP
Thousands of soldiers in armoured vehicles, trucks and on foot entered one of Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious slums on Saturday to provide security less than three months before the World Cup.
The move is the latest attempt to drive drug gangs out of the notorious Mare shanty town or ‘favela’, a haven for organised crime and one of the city’s most dangerous neighbourhoods, located near Rio de Janeiro’s international airport.
The Mare complex, home to 130,000 people, lies on a route for tens of thousands of football fans flying in and out of the metropolis may take to reach Rio’s centre, which will stage seven World Cup matches, including the July 13 final.
Members of the feared Special Police Operations Battalion, with guns at the ready and backed by helicopters and naval armoured vehicles, first stormed into favela on March 30.
However the entry was peaceful on Saturday, when some 2,700 soldiers, sailors and military police entered the slum at 6am local time.
Officials said their goal was to provide long-term security.
Residents went about their business, occasionally poking their heads out of windows to watch the soldiers as they entered.
The troops include some 2,000 paratroopers, 450 sailors and 200 military police.
A huge slum “pacification” programme has been in place since 2008 aimed at shoring up security across the city, which will also host the 2016 Olympics.
In recent years, Police Pacification Units (UPPs) have been installed in 174 Rio favelas, which accommodate some 600,000 people.
