Favela...slums of Rio

...they say in Rio both the rich and the poor have the same gorgeous views from their living room as they both live side by side on the hills of Rio and also on the beaches of Rio rich and poor mix like they are all equal...in this picture far left on the hill is one of the 750 favelas that are dotted around Rio hills...favelas is Spanish for slums but they are not like those slums you find in Asia...here they are each totally run,policed and controlled by the drug lords and they have their own laws eg you can never be robbed once you are inside the favela-because the robber will be caught for sure by the drug lords own deadly police force and his or her throat will be cut open on the spot for others to see-problems are resolved within the community-and it goes without saying that official Rio police are all paid off by the drug lords too...if you want to see two systems one country come to Brazil...

...Favelas were not even recognised on official maps until 1992-they were initially started in 1800 by freed slaves moving in to the city and then other poor people started moving too from countrysides...

...this one called Rocinha and it's the one we visited with a guide...you have to visit a favela to understand Brazil -it's a real eye opener...
...average age of a drug lord is never above 30 years as they die well before that in a gun-fight...as luck would have it while we were there travelling on a one way street, a huge blacked out jeep went past us the wrong way and our guide told us that he can do that as one of the drug lord was in there going about his business -we failed to see his face but we all agreed that he was under the age of 30...
...all properties in favelas have all the amenities like water,electricity etc and drug lords spent lots of money on schools and so on...most of the money spent during the the great Rio carnival are provided by the drug lords too...drug lords themselves are in competition against other drug lords from other favelas as to see who can spend the most money during the Rio carnival and which favela has the best floats and winning the parade competition during the Rio carnival is the priority... over 95% of people taking parts in Rio carnival are from favelas-Rio carnival is the favelas...
...in the middle of this picture you see a line running across the mountain-that's one very expensive mountain rain drainage system built by the drug lords after a mud slide in the 80's which killed many in this favela...

...what favela produce in vast numbers are FOOTBALLERS that play for local clubs and for Brazil...most recent famous being no other than RONLADO from Flavela Rocinha and from years gone by ZICO( then so called white Pele!)...