War Erupts In Brazil

On October 28, 2025, Rio de Janeiro descended into chaos as Brazilian authorities launched "Operation Containment," the largest police raid in the city's history, targeting the notorious Red Command (Comando Vermelho) drug cartel in the northern favelas of Complexo do Alemão and Penha. Over 2,500 heavily armed officers, supported by helicopters, armored vehicles, and drones, executed more than 250 arrest and search warrants, resulting in at least 64 deaths—including 60 suspected gang members and 4 police officers—and 81 arrests. Fierce gun battles erupted, with cartel members responding by setting tire barricades ablaze, blocking major highways like Avenida Brasil, and deploying weaponized drones to drop explosives on police positions. Civilians in the densely populated hillside communities (home to around 300,000 people) were caught in the crossfire, with reports of stray bullets hitting homes and hospitals treating dozens of injuries. Rio Governor Cláudio Castro declared the city "at war," likening the scene to a war zone amid plumes of smoke and burning buses. Human rights groups condemned the operation as a "massacre," calling for investigations into extrajudicial killings, while the timing—just days before pre-COP30 climate events—raises concerns over escalating urban violence tied to Brazil's role as a major cocaine transit hub. The raid, planned over two months based on a year-long investigation, aims to disrupt the cartel's expansion into arms smuggling from Paraguay and Colombia and cocaine pipelines to global ports.