RIO DE JANEIRO -- In a quick and decisive military sweep, Brazilian security forces seized control of this city's most notorious slum on Sunday, claiming victory in a weeklong battle against drug gangs that has claimed dozens of lives. By early afternoon the military police had raised the flags of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro atop a building on the highest hill in the Alemao shantytown complex, providing a rare moment of catharsis and celebration in a decades-long battle to rid this city's violent slums of drug gangs. [continues 905 words]
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Police and Brazilian Army soldiers, struggling to take control of a second huge slum complex here, were fired on by drug gangs on Friday, but by nightfall they had managed to trap the traffickers inside, a military spokesman said. Friday's activity, at the Alemao complex of shantytowns, which is home to about 400,000 residents and considered by many to be the most violent of the city's slums, is a response to the latest eruption of gang violence, which began Sunday, as well as an effort by the Brazilian authorities to show that they can secure the city well in advance of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. [continues 515 words]
