Security forces seize control of Rio’s biggest slum

MORE than 3,000 police and soldiers backed by armoured personnel carriers raced into Brazil’s biggest slum, quickly gaining control of a shantytown ruled for decades by a heavily-armed drug gang.

It was the most ambitious operation yet in an effort to increase security before Rio hosts the final matches of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Officials are counting on those events to signal Brazil’s arrival as a global economic, political and cultural power.

“We’re taking back this territory for the 100,000 citizens of Rocinha, people who have needed peace,” said Sergio Cabral, governor of Rio de Janeiro state.