Rio de Janeiro: the anti-drug operation turns into a massacre; more than 100 dead and a country in shock
What was meant to be a large operation to dismantle drug trafficking networks turned into a bloodbath in Rio de Janeiro.
Deployed by the hundreds on the night of October 28, police and army officers clashed with members of the powerful gang Comando Vermelho, in exchanges of gunfire of an intensity rarely seen.
Announced by the governor of the State of Rio, Claudio Castro, the operation presented as “the largest ever carried out against trafficking” mobilized around 2,500 men, supported by helicopters and armored vehicles. The security forces were targeting criminal strongholds located in the Alemão and Penha neighborhoods, not far from the international airport.
But the response from the armed groups was devastating. From the heights of the favelas, traffickers opened fire, set buses on fire, and according to several witnesses, even used armed drones to target security forces. The city quickly found itself paralyzed.
In an alert message, the U.S. embassy and consulate reported major road closures in the North Zone, notably on the Brasil, Amarela and Marechal Rondon avenues, urging residents to exercise caution.
The human toll is terrifying. Initial figures reported 60 dead, but according to PBS News and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 121 people were killed, including four police officers, and 81 were arrested. High Commissioner Volker Türk denounced an operation “the deadliest in Rio de Janeiro’s history” and demanded an urgent reform of police methods in Brazil.
Local authorities, however, are hailing the “success” of the operation. A version contested by many observers. Jacqueline Muniz, a professor at Fluminense Federal University, describes it as a “political-operational fiasco,” pointing to a lack of preparation and obvious misconduct.
Human rights organizations, by contrast, are calling it a massacre. Several bodies were found in the alleys of the favelas, and residents denounce summary executions.
Between a security triumph for some and a state tragedy for others, Rio de Janeiro is sinking deeper into the eternal debate over institutional violence and the limits of the war on drug trafficking. An endless conflict in which, once again, civilians pay the highest price.
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