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Armed Police in Tanks with Overhead Helicopter Guards Storm Notorious Rio Slum in Controversial 'Clean-up' Ahead of World Cup

• 1,400 armed police and marines have stormed one of Brazil's biggest slums in bulletproof trucks
• Helicopters circle as scores of military point guns at residents as they walk through the streets in which they live
  
• Operation to rid Complexo da Mare, home to more than 130,000 residents, of violence and drug gangs started today
• Since 2011, government has cracked down on slums within the city ahead of World Cup which begins in June
• Brazilian police have attracted widespread criticism following use of violence and 'covered-up' murders
  

By Daily Mail UK, 31 March 2014


The Brazilian government has deployed forces to one of Rio de Janeiro's largest slums - in a clean-up operation which aims to reduce crime in the city ahead of the World Cup.

Federal forces are here pictured entering the violence-plagued Complexo da Mare - one of Brazil's biggest slums - 'favelas' in Portuguese.

These pictures show troops storming the favela bearing guns in bullet-proof vehicles while a helicopter circles above.

The faces of the 130,000 residents who live on the Mare complex have also been pictured. Mare is formed of 16 separate communities and has been riddled with drugs and dominated by gangs and militias.

It is close to Rio's international airport, which means that visitors must drive past it on their way into the city.

Senior officials have denied that the Mare clean-up is related to the World Cup - claiming that they aim to improve the lives of Rio favela residents.


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Today, daily life in one of Rio de Janerio's biggest shanty towns was disrupted by
military personnel in an attempted to clean up the city before the World Cup




Residents looked on bemusedly as armed federal officers in
bullet-proof vests strode through the run-down streets in a bid to crack down on crime




This emaciated horse eating from a bin is not an uncommon sight in
the violence-plagued Complexo da Mare, which is controlled by gangs and militias


Tanks were even rolled out into the complex early Sunday morning to carry more
than 1,000 police and further military personnel on an impromptu patrol








Helicopters circle the Mare slum complex in Rio de Janeiro.
The slum - 'favela' in Portuguese - is home to some 130,000 residents



Residents walk through the slum as dozens of police officers, in camouflaged
uniform, hold machine guns from behind heavy-duty navy trucks



Residents are seen walking out of the favela as armed troops in bullet-proof vests storm in



Locals carried on with daily life as police officers and marines in uniform filed through the narrow streets. No shots have been fired so far



Police in the city have attracted widespread criticism for their heavy-handed approach to controlling drug crime in the city

Last year, police were charged after bricklayer Amarildo de Souza, who lived in the city's biggest shanty town Roncinha, was tortured and murdered. Police were then charged with hiding his body




A special operations officer is pictured here in front of a graffiti drawing of Rio's symbolic statue: Christ the Redeemer. Troops have stormed the favela to rid it of drug gangs and clamp down on violence



In the coming days, army soldiers will begin patrolling the virtually treeless, flat area of about two square miles in northern Rio that hugs the main road to the airport and is home to about 130,000 people



A navy tank drives behind a police van carrying scores of police officers holding machine guns




One soldier hides behind a wall as he point his gun towards the street. It was dusk in Rio when troops entered the favela




Navy tanks roll through the favela. The police community pacification unit, known as the UPP, will step in once federal forces have left the area. The UPP will then remain in the shanty town in order to keep peace and control any uprising



A couple walks along as a navy tank storms into the place where they live. The army presence in
favelas across Rio has sparked rage across the city. Last week, protestors set fire to a police office in the city



A policeman stands next to a piece of graffiti bearing the words: 'Politicians and the UPP' will die.
The UPP is a special community officer group which steps in to keep peace in the favela once government troops have left



One police officer is pictured here holding a man up against a wall while he searches him.
Troops took over the favela this afternoon - six weeks before the World Cup



Brazil will host the World Cup from June 14 and has been named host of the 2016 Olympics.
The clean-up is an attempt to make Rio a safer place for tourists attending the events




Police wait outside an unknown house in the slum. Security forces will eventually set up permanent posts in Mare as part of the 'pacification' programme that began in 2008 and is meant to secure Rio ahead of the World Cup and also the 2016 summer Olympics






Early evening today the troops stormed the favela. It is unknown how long the operation will last.
Once troops leave a 'pacification' force will be introduced into Mare




The BOPE paramilitary police unit have been patrolling streets since dusk. Once they leave a more long-term patrol force will be established in the favela. Police have installed 37 such posts in recent years in an area covering 1.5 million people


REAL TRUTH = POVERTY/CRUELTY IN BRAZIL











Little Jessica prepares to carry water from the one pipe with running water - available to dozens of residents in the impoverished area.
Mare favela is located near to Rio's international airport




Mother Quiva stands with her son Joao Vitor in the impoverished favela. The Mare complex has more than 13,000 residents






















VIDEO:
Armed Forces Occupy Rio in 'Clean Up' ahead of World Cup




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