Rio favelas devastated after deadly raid as families bury dead

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Families of dozens killed in a deadly Rio de Janeiro police raid on gangs began burying their dead Thursday, as residents remained shocked by the scenes of carnage and furious with security forces, whom they accuse of excessive use of force, torture and extrajudicial executions.

In the Vila Cruzeiro favela, where bodies were lined up side by side on the floor the day before, many expressed their shock, pain and anger as government ministers and legislators came to listen to the community’s demands.

At least 132 people were killed during Tuesday’s operation, including four police officers, according to a count provided Thursday by Rio’s public defender’s office.

A day after a raid that many described as a war, the neighborhood showed signs of returning to normal, with some restaurants and stores once again waiting for customers.

“I came to work because I have to, but my mental health is destroyed,” said Monique Santiliano, a 40-year-old resident who runs a nail salon across from the favela rights group CUFA in Vila Cruzeiro, part of Penha’s sprawling complex of urban communities.

“This was not an operation, they were murders. They did not come to arrest, they came to kill,” he added with a trembling voice.

The governor of Rio state, the conservative Claudio Castro, said Tuesday that Rio was at war against “narcoterrorism,” a term reminiscent of the rhetoric of the United States in its campaign against drug smuggling in Latin America. He described the operation as a success.

Human Rights Minister Macaé Evaristo told residents and reporters gathered in Penha that she did not accept that statement and that the fight against organized crime should focus on those who direct and finance it.

“It makes no sense to go into our communities and expose children, the elderly and people with disabilities to such terror,” Evaristo said.

Tuesday’s raid, involving some 2,500 police and soldiers, targeted the well-known Red Command gang in the Complexo de Alemão and Complexo da Penha favelas. It sparked gunfire and retaliation by gang members, leading to scenes of chaos throughout the city.

The state government said those killed were criminals who resisted police.

But the death toll, the highest ever recorded in a police operation in Rio, drew condemnation from human rights groups and the United Nations, as well as intense scrutiny from authorities. The Supreme Federal Court, prosecutors and legislators ordered Castro to provide detailed information about the operation.

Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes scheduled a hearing with the governor and the heads of the military and civil police next Monday in Rio.

While some, mostly right-wing voters and politicians, applauded the operation against the heavily armed gang, others questioned whether it would achieve lasting results and alleged that many of those killed were easily replaceable low-ranking members.

Otoni de Paula, a conservative lawmaker, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the disparity between the number of police officers and suspects killed raises questions.

“I think we are facing an ambush whose only objective was execution,” he said. “We cannot think that the state can give the police the right to kill anyone.”

Residents reported the condition of the bodies, with at least one decapitated, while others reportedly had puncture wounds or were tied up.

“This brutality cannot be normalized just because it happened here. If the country continues to applaud, it will happen in other places,” said Ana Tobossi, activist and resident.

Tobossi said Thursday it was even harder for him to overcome the adrenaline of the previous day, when he went to the green hillside area where many of the bodies were found Wednesday morning to help in the search.

“Now I feel great fragility,” he noted.

The stated objective of the operation was to capture leaders and limit the territorial expansion of the gang, which has increased its control over the favelas in recent years.

The band has also expanded its presence throughout Brazil in recent years, including in the Amazon rainforest.

Paulo Roberto, a 16-year-old who works as a street vendor at the famous Maracana soccer stadium, said he had been shocked by what had happened.

“People from outside are going to see this happening in the favelas and are not going to want to come anymore. It makes us look bad,” he alleged.

By Thursday, some families had begun burying their dead. A police officer was buried in the morning on the west side of the city.

After the funeral of Cauan Fernandes do Carmo Soares, 22, who lived in Complexo de Alemão, his relatives followed his coffin to a nearby cemetery in the northern part of Rio carrying white flowers.

“These kids have a father, a mother, sisters and brothers,” said Grasiele, the deceased’s sister, before the wake. “My family is destroyed.”

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.