Rio might actually become safe for every tourist including all areas of the country, now.
Rio de Janeiro gun battles leave at least 14 people dead (click here)
Many killed in major police assaults on favela strongholds of drug traffickers and gangsters
The Guardian,
The deaths came during a series of major police assaults on the city's slums, including one favela that serves as the HQ of the city's largest drug gang.
Triggered by a spate of attacks on police and drivers, the incursions began on Tuesday and involved hundreds of heavily armed police operatives, bulletproof vehicles and helicopters.
About 150 people were arrested during the sweeps by 17,500 officers while at least 22 people have been killed since Sunday, according to Rio's military police. The wounded have included two policemen and an 81-year-old man while an estimated 17,000 children were left unable to attend lessons as a result of the clashes.
"We did not start this war," Colonel Lima Castro, a spokesman for Rio's military police said last night. "We were provoked and we will emerge victorious."
The massive operations in at least 20 Rio favelas followed a wave of apparently co-ordinated attacks by drug traffickers who torched buses and cars and planted homemade bombs in various locations....
I doubt it is over, but, it is a good beginning. There needs to be gun trafficking stopped as well.
Police in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro (click title to entry - thank you) have urged drug traffickers in a hillside slum to turn themselves in or face a determined assault.
Hundreds of police officers and soldiers, some in armoured vehicles, have surrounded the Alemao favela.
Authorities say the operation aims make the city safer ahead of the World Cup in 2014 and Olympic Games in 2016....
