Complexo da Mare, sprawling over the flatlands behind Rio's sparkling
Guanabara Bay, has long been a desolate place. Over the years,
hundreds of thousands of poor people have flocked to the slum in
search of work and a better life. Few found either and, packed into
shanties, many of the most desperate residents turned to crime to make
a living. But in the past two years, Mare and other
favelas--collectively home to 17 percent of Rio's citizens--have
become killing fields. Teenagers armed with AK-47s, AR-15s, Walthers,
Uzis, hand grenades, even rocket launchers, shoot it out night after
night, destroying homes and shops and killing civilians. What has made
a tough neighborhood almost maniacally violent?
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