Peace Welcome to Rio

This programme contains strong language

With the World Cup and Olympics on the way, the planet is looking to one city. Welcome to Rio.

One in five of us live in parts of the city you tourists will

never know, Rio's famous favelas.

These government-free zones are dotted

throughout our marvellous city.

What we lack in law and order we make up for with close-knit

communities and a lot of freedom.

HE LAUGHS

But the government has started invading our favelas

and our world is under threat as never before.

SHOUTING

But if they thought we'd go quietly, they were wrong.

Take a closer look at the favelas behind your hotel...

and meet the people whose lives are being thrown upside down,

all in the name of international sport.

Millions of you are planning to visit Rio in the next

couple of years and we're looking forward to seeing you,

but we've a few things to tidy up before you arrive.

The government wants you to feel safe, so top of the list is chasing

the armed drug trafficking gangs out of the city's many favelas.

It's a process they call pacification.

But for those of us who live in the favela,

pacification is a mixed blessing.

Police occupation means fewer gun battles on our streets,

but much more government involvement in our way of life.

This is Cantagalo Hill.

It's home to two favelas smack bang in the tourist centre,

overlooking Copacabana beach, and it was among the first to be pacified.

Cantagalo is a miracle of unplanned architecture.

It climbs the sheer face of the hillside with

a labyrinth of winding alleyways, secret doors and endless staircases.

And king of carrying stuff up and down those stairs is Rocky.

You might also notice Cantagalo's unique aroma...

a combination of our open sewers and our passion for keeping animals.

DOGS BARK

But the pride of our favela is this.

Surely one of the loveliest views in the city.

Rocky is a widower, and he lives

high upon the hill with his three children and two grandchildren.

Sure it's kind of cosy, but we'd much rather that than be apart.

But rich or poor,

there's one disaster certain to strike any parent -

teenagers.

Every parent worries about the company their teenagers keep...

..but for favela parents,

there's a chance their dodgy mates could be drug traffickers.

Rocky works every day to support his family,

and he's not just a strong man - he's our doorman.

You'll find him at the bottom of the hill, at the entrance to the favela.

Like all good doormen,

Rocky receives your delivery then brings it up to your apartment.

When we buy a fridge, we tell the store, "Take it to Rocky."

It's easy to see how he earned the title "King Of The Stairs".

When he's not carrying a domestic appliance up the hill,

Rocky is tending to his other business.

This isn't a pile of junk,

it's Rocky's salvage-yard-thrift-shop.

It's an Aladdin's cave and Rocky's pride and joy.

It may seem risky, leaving all your possessions in a

pile on the street, but no-one would dream of touching Rocky's stuff.

It's one of the joys of living in a small communidade.

Everyone takes care of everyone else's business.

Rush hour at the bottom of the hill coincides with the school run.

No-one's built a school up this side of the hill. It's much less

bother just to build one at the bottom.

But if you're four years old, it's quite a walk home.

This is Acme and his son Davi.

They live at the very top of the hill.

Acme is a graffiti artist.

His canvases are the walls of his favela

and his journey home is like a tour of his gallery.

At the top of the hill, the air is clean.

There's fruit on the trees and a cool breeze,

which is a relief for Acme's wife Jane,

who is six months pregnant with their second child.

A baby raised at the top of this hill would have had gunfire

for lullabies until a couple of years ago.

And when Davi was born, Acme and Jane moved away.

But now Cantagalo is officially pacified,

they have moved back into their beautiful house...

which is a lot handier for Acme's studio.

Acme grew up here, surrounded by guns and drug traffickers,

and that life features in a lot of his work.

RADIO CHATTER

DOG WHINES

DOG BARKS

Acme only has to walk out behind his studio for a reminder

of the favela's turbulent past.

Years ago, we named this place Vietnam...

and not because of its lush vegetation.

HE LAUGHS

The government didn't pacify Vietnam when the drug traffickers

were executing people on our football pitch.

It was only when the World Cup was at stake

they decided to do something.

HIP HOP MUSIC PLAYS

Don't be fooled by the name -

there's nothing peaceful about pacification.

One by one, our favelas are being

invaded by troops with enough firepower

to chase out the traffickers.

And the government made this elite unit the smiling face of their

operation - the Battalion Of Special Operations or BOPE for short.

Under Brazil's former dictatorship

they were considered an elite death squad,

and, decades later, they are still not exactly bleeding heart liberals.

Commander Grip is their operational chief.

HORN BEEPS

No expense is spared on BOPE's world-class training.

Their mountainside base is like a James Bond lair,

where some of the world's finest warriors are brought in

to share their expertise.

I'm...Grandmaster Kevin Lloyd.

I come from Oldham, which is just outside of Manchester.

Lift.

Hold it.

We're going to...headbutt.

For all their history, and all their quirks,

BOPE's courage is never in question.

Another day, another mission,

this time to an unpacified favela in the North Zone.

RADIO CHATTER

BOPE have been fighting the drug traffickers for decades,

but pacification has given their operations new purpose.

But having the police, not the drug traffickers,

run our streets comes at a price...quite literally.

Now they're in charge,

the government wants us to pay for our electricity, our water,

even our Sky TV. All the things we used to get for free.

And though they promised pacification would come

with lots of other benefits,

so far they haven't even organised the rubbish collection.

And to cap it all, after four years of police rule in Cantagalo,

we all know the traffickers are still on the hill...

..and Rocky's son Felipe has just fallen foul of them.

They've accused him of talking to the police.

As punishment, Felipe's been ordered to stay in his house for a month.

Before pacification, the traffickers would make Felipe run errands -

often the first step towards joining the gangs.

Our relationships with the traffickers

are complicated to say the least.

As a young man from a gang-controlled favela,

local traffickers will be people you grew up with or went to school with,

even members of your own family.

If you are going to avoid being pulled into the traffic

yourself, it helps to have a passion.

Acme's graffiti adorns much more than just his favela,

he's had commissions across the city.

But drug trafficker contacts can be an asset if a less scrupulous

client is refusing to pay for your work, for example.

Acme's clients aren't the only ones

that are struggling to pay the bills.

Our government have been spending like there is no tomorrow,

all to get ready for you lot.

A lick of paint on a stadium here, a new Olympic park there,

who would think it could cost so many billions?

Some of us are starting to ask if it's worth it.

Pacification is one of the most expensive parts of the project.

It goes way beyond just invading and patrolling our narrow streets.

If the government are in charge

then they're also responsible for our wellbeing,

and that gives them the right to wheel out an old favourite

declaring our favela homes unsafe and bulldozing them.

Which is exactly what they're proposing in the hilltop

sanctuary of Vietnam, arguably the best real estate on the hill.

Very quickly, the government starts knocking things down.

With a baby due in a couple of months,

this is the last thing Acme needs.

The government are promising to rehouse Acme and his neighbours,

but currently on offer are homes in other favelas,

miles from jobs, families and friends.

Land and homes are a hot topic in our pacified favelas.

With fewer shoot outs, values are shooting up.

They may be improvised houses on squatted land,

but they change hands for money, just like yours.

And now outsiders are buying up our land to build hotels.

And a new kind of dealer is roaming our streets -

the estate agent.

It's not just property investors

wending their way into pacified favelas.

Tourists can stay in favela hostels and even take guided favela tours.

And that's the place to buy water.

That bar, over there, is open 24/7.

Yeah, 24/7.

And the name of it - Moskito.

And favela tourism means tourist dollars.

But this influx of tourists and estate agents is driving up

the cost of living for the rest of us.

Even Rocky's tiny house now costs him around £100 a month to rent,

which means less money to spend on his greatest passion - football!

CHANTING

The only thing that can lure Rocky away from his work

is his beloved team Vasco da Gama.

With his son Felipe stuck in the house,

Rocky has brought his grandson instead.

This is only a league game.

Just imagine what our World Cup will be like.

HE LAUGHS

Let's face it, no-one plays the beautiful game quite like Brazil,

and we know how to express our appreciation.

Rocky's son Felipe used to train at the Vasco school.

But Felipe started running errands for the drug traffickers, and gave

up his Vasco training.

Rocky's called him the "Black Sheep" ever since.

HE LAUGHS

Rocky's a hard act for his son to follow.

He's always up at dawn.

He doesn't eat breakfast or lunch,

just a small cup of coffee to last him the day.

And if business isn't brisk enough for his liking,

he heads out of the favela,

looking for an opportunity to make a quick buck.

It's only a few hundred yards away,

but it may as well be a different planet.

While in the favela, most of us survive on just a few pounds a day,

Rio's South Zone is one of the richest neighbourhoods in the world.

To us, even their garbage is a treasure trove.

We make good use of the things that we find,

things the everyday millionaires leave behind.

With children and grandchildren to provide for,

barely an hour goes by without a withdrawal from the bank of Rocky.

HE LAUGHS

If Rocky could only save up,

he could make his life a whole lot easier.

He has an old tricycle named the Vascomobile for his football team,

which could take some of the sweat out of all his fetching and carrying.

For now, it's just a three-wheeled dream.

The politicians who have decided pacification is

the answer for Rio aren't the ones who risk their lives

marching into drug trafficker territory.

That honour falls to BOPE and they're taking casualties.

Two of their men have been killed in as many months

and commander Grip must perform his least favourite duty.

BIRDS CHIRP

ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

Everyone has to take a break sometime.

Grip has ordered his men to take a night off and relax.

But these guys are never really off duty.

CHOIR MUSIC PLAYS

5am in Cantagalo.

The last drunks are making their way home.

Everyone else in the favela is asleep...

or almost everyone.

Rocky's most heroic job is ferrying the sick

and injured down the hill, a kind of human ambulance service.

It's a service he provides free of charge.

13 years ago, Rocky carried his wife down the hill.

Up the hill in Vietnam, they're getting ready for a busy day.

Acme is refusing to just give up

and let the authorities knock his house down.

A team of lawyers and academics have offered to help fight

the demolitions and have climbed the hill to talk to the residents.

Everyone needs to hear what they have to say.

But Acme's not alone.

In every favela they've pacified, not just Cantagalo,

the government tread a fine line between helping and interfering.

There is a huge increase in routine stop and searches.

And across the city,

thousands of houses have been earmarked for demolition.

Favela activists are starting to make their voices heard.

As demonstrations about government spending

sweep the rest of the city,

Acme and his fellow activists add their voices to the protests.

CHANTING

SIREN BLARES

Rocky's nightmare about losing all his stuff

is starting to look more like a premonition.

The police have told him his shop is blocking the road.

Either he moves it or they'll evict him.

Felipe's house arrest is finally over which means

he can come along to help his dad dismantle his junk shop.

Felipe has worked hard today.

Perhaps a small sign he's turning over a new leaf.

Rocky has no choice but to sell the last contents of his shop for scrap.

It's not often Rocky has a wodge of cash in his hand

and he knows just how he's going to spend it.

At the very top of the hill, there's been some good news.

After the protests, the demolitions have been halted indefinitely.

It's a victory Acme had scarcely dared hope for,

one he wants to make sure no-one will forget.

Time to do what he does best.

Of course, not everyone understands the vision of political street art.

Perhaps we have more in common with the police than we expect.

Certainly we are all facing the challenges of pacification.

For BOPE, it's 231 favelas down, more than 800 to go.

A few weeks later, Commander Grip would embark on what would turn out

to be his final mission.

Pursuing traffickers fleeing from impending pacification,

Commander Grip and his unit are ambushed.

Commander Grip is shot and killed.

SOLO BUGLE PLAYS

God decided it was Commander Grip's turn to patrol the skies.

The jury is out on pacification but living in a city like Rio,

we know conflict is often necessary to bring about change.

The protests finally provoke a response from Brazil's President.

The President promises to reform the government and give

new funding to education.

And it's not just the government who've made a change.

There'll be no more messing about on the hill for Felipe.

He's got himself a job, working in a stall on the beach.

And Felipe's dad has got another reason to be happy

in Copacabana today.

THEME TO BLACK BEAUTY PLAYS

That wodge of cash turned a rusty heap into a glorious Vascomobile.

Living here, we've already survived our fair share of upheaval

and uncertainty and while pacification may have increased

our life expectancy, we don't know if it will last.

But we'll face the future, with the same optimism and determination

we've always had, since we first built our shacks on the hill.

That's the spirit of the favela,

which no drug trafficker or police officer could ever crush -

a spirit that Acme wants to celebrate

with a very special portrait.

The favela belongs to its people

and that means it will forever be in safe hands.

Next time, on Welcome To Rio,

let us take you where no tour guide has ever been,

into the heart of gang-controlled favelas.

And come face to face with the drug traffickers.