Brazil: Rio cops, troops preparing to invade gang haven
Soldiers and police crouching behind armored vehicles trained their rifles on dozens of entrances to a sprawling slum Saturday, preparing to invade and try to push drug gangs out an area long considered the most dangerous in Rio de Janeiro, a city set to host the 2016 Olympics.
Before heading into what would certainly be a pitched fight, however, police said they were offering the traffickers one last chance to turn themselves in. The standoff comes after a week of intense and widespread violence in Rio, with dozens of mass robberies of motorists on key roadways, more than 100 cars and buses set on fire and at least 35 deaths, mostly suspected traffickers. (Reuters)
