Authorities initially said fewer than half that number had been killed in the favelas – the Portuguese term for slum. Protests against excessive police force have since broken out and activists are calling for Rio’s governor to resign over what local people have described as a “slaughter”. Aljazeera reported.
State police said the operation carried out on Tuesday had been planned for months. The “sting” aimed to drive suspects into a forested hillside where special operation units were waiting to ambush them.
The following day, dozens of favela residents gathered in front of the state government headquarters shouting “assassins!” just hours after family members laid dozens of bodies out on a street in one of the targeted areas.
Among those expressing shock about the death toll was President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. According to Brazil’s justice minister, Lula was “astonished” that the federal government had not been informed about or asked to cooperate in the operation beforehand.
