Rio de Janeiro: Preparations for ‘war’ unfold live on TV
Residents of Rio de Janeiro were perplexed Thursday as they watched, live on television, the movements of hundreds of armed gang members getting ready for a clash with police.
The powerful Brazilian television network Globo broadcast footage taken at midday from a helicopter ahead of a major police raid on two local slums, known as favelas.
The footage showed alleged gangs in the favela Vila Cruzeiro carrying heavy weapons as they moved through the forest towards the nearby slum Complexo do Alemao. They were reportedly planning to join local criminals there in order to fight police together.
Also Thursday, police enlisted six Brazilian army tanks to back up their attempt to occupy these two slums.