Originally posted by Kosh
But it really sounds like they need the army. Why haven't they declared a state of emergency and called in the Brazillian army?
They did that a few years ago when it was as bad as it's now. The gangs retreated and were confined to the shantytowns (most of them located on hills in Rio), but there wasn't a way to get rid of them without
lots of civilian casualties or even more casualties among the military (by bombing and invading, respectively) so neither option was even considered. When the military left, it all started to get back to what it was before.
If I had been the commander in charge of it, I'd have cordoned off the shantytowns and ordered everyone to leave through a series of controlled checkpoints, where identifiable criminals would be held, and then I'd have napalmed the **** out of those hills. House the innocent people on military-controlled shelters for a time while they rebuild their houses themselves with government support (it's not like they actually legally own anything on those shantytowns anyway), but now do it in an organized and easy to police way (since right now the shantytowns are a nightmare for the cops). Would require quite an investment, but it would get rid of a lot of the criminals, would make it easier to control the gangs later when they reformed, and would give most of the people there better living conditions in the long run.
Besides, Rio
stinks. Literally.
