An armored personnel carrier of the Braz

An armored personnel carrier of the Brazilian Navy advances in Rio de Janeiro's Morro da Mangueira shantytown through the slum's steep roads early in the morning of June 19, 2011 in a pre-announced operation. Hundreds of Brazilian police and soldiers backed by helicopters and armored vehicles swept in Sunday to take over a crime-ridden Rio slum as part of a pacification plan ahead of the football World Cup in 2014. More than 100 marines and 160 elite police officers took part in the operation in the hillside Mangueira neighborhood, which went off without a shot being fired, a police spokesman said. Drug gangs which had been controlling the district had fled well in advance. AFP PHOTO/VANDERLEI ALMEIDA (Photo credit should read VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)