Dawn broke over Rio de Janeiro’s favelas with a grim tableau: Dozens of body bags lined the streets of Penha and Alemão, as residents hauled corpses from wooded hillsides to a central square for identification. What started as Brazil’s largest-ever anti-gang sweep has ballooned into its deadliest—132 lives lost, including four officers, according to the state public defender’s office. Governor Cláudio Castro hails it a “historic blow” against the Red Command cartel, but families, activists, and the UN decry a “state-sponsored massacre” just days before the city hosts the C40 World Mayors Summit and Earthshot Prize.
From 64 to 132: The Escalating Toll
Tuesday’s Operation Containment—codenamed for “restraint”—unleashed 2,500 elite BOPE troops, helicopters, and armored vehicles on the sprawling Alemão and Penha complexes, home to 300,000 souls. Initial reports pegged 64 dead; by Wednesday, forensic teams and favela searches pushed it to 119, then 132—128 suspects, four cops. Castro conceded the figure “will change,” but insisted all but the officers were “narco-terrorists.”
The raid netted 81 arrests, 42 rifles (some traced to Venezuelan, Peruvian, and Argentine militaries via Amazon smuggling routes), and “tons of drugs.” Gang retaliation? Drones hurling explosives at cops, per state video—echoing “narco-terrorism” rhetoric from U.S. allies. Barricades of torched cars choked alleys, schools shuttered, and gunfire echoed for hours.
Planners touted a year-long intel build to curb Red Command’s turf grab—Brazil’s oldest cartel, born in dictatorship-era prisons, now a transnational extortion empire. Castro: “Bigger than the 2010 Alemão siege.”
Favela Fury: ‘Slaughter, Not Operation’
Residents paint horror: Bodies “grotesquely disfigured,” dragged from forests; one mother’s claim of her son’s decapitation. Protests erupted outside government HQ—flags dipped in red paint, chants of “Assassins!” Activist Rene Silva: “Not fighting crime—fighting poverty.” Councilwoman Thais Ferreira: “Genocide on Black and poor bodies.”
Human Rights Watch’s César Muñoz: “Huge tragedy—probe every death.” Fogo Cruzado data: Half of September’s gun wounds from cops. UN’s OHCHR: “Horrified—extreme lethality in marginalized spots; investigate now.” President Lula: “Deeply concerned—excessive force unacceptable.” Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes demands reports.
Sou da Paz’s Carolina Ricardo: “Failed war on drugs—hits symptoms, not roots.” FAFERJ’s Filipe dos Anjos: “Dead are replaceable; gangs rebound.”
Timing Under Fire: Pre-Summit Security or Show?
The blitz—mere days from C40 and Earthshot—stirs suspicions of “security theater.” U.S. State Dept: “Avoid north Rio—clashes disrupt traffic.” Echoes Jacarezinho 2021 (28 dead, court raid ban).
As COP30 looms in Belém, X pulses with grief: “Favelas deserve respect!” One post: “Brazil’s anti-Blackness pinnacle.” Bodies kiss goodbye amid smoke; the war on want rages on.
Source: CNN.com
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