Police demolition squads fighting back against fortifications, while one local artist is using barriers as canvas to symbolise hoped-for peace
Deep in a mosaic of redbrick favelas on the fringes of Rio, a weapons dealer, a drug smuggler and a crime lord held court on a corner as darkness enveloped the streets they rule.
An unnerving arsenal of assault rifles was on show as the trio fielded requests from customers, locals and staff, but the mood was relaxed.
The gunrunner sipped Coca-Cola and listened to Coldplay on one of his many mobile phones. A plasma television broadcast a Brazilian soap opera about the life of St Paul the Apostle. A gang accountant fingered wads of cash covering a plastic garden table below the screen, utterly unconcerned about being bothered by the police.
The group’s laid-backness was largely the result of the numerous barricades designed to stop security forces from reaching their sanctuary in the favela: metal and concrete fortifications built by local crime bosses to give them time to escape police raids.
