War Welcome to Rio

Contains some strong language.

With the World Cup and Olympics on the way,

the whole planet is looking to one city.

Welcome to Rio!

CHEERING AND WHISTLES BLOWING

But you tourists only know one half of our marvellous city.

Ipanema, Copacabana, caipirinhas and perfectly waxed bodies on the beach.

We call it the Asphalt, after its neatly-paved roads.

But the real beating heart of our city is here...

Rio's famous favelas.

One in five of us call these shanty towns home and for years

they've been ruled by drug trafficking gangs.

Now the government are trying to take the favelas over

in time for our international guests.

But the favelas belong to us.

We've created our own way of life, free from government interference,

where opportunities can be seized and people dare to be different.

Now, we're locked in a battle to preserve our way of life.

Let us take you to favelas where no tour guide has ever been...

into this hidden world of the hippest culture

and the greatest parties on the planet.

The crucible of all that is hot about Rio.

Rio has more than 1,000 favelas.

They spring up between cracks in the Asphalt,

clinging to the hillsides, or sprawling along the motorway.

Most of our favelas are controlled not by the government,

but by these guys...the drug traffickers.

Favelas like this one, Complexo do Alemao.

The guide books will tell you it's a dangerous, no-go area,

but that's only part of the story.

130,000 people live here, raising families, holding down jobs,

and for a dangerous, no-go area it's surprisingly well-organised.

At the top of the food chain of course are those drug traffickers.

They make the rules and they punish anyone who breaks them.

But for just about everything else,

from family disputes to power supplies,

there's Carlos.

You'll find him at the bright green Resident's Association.

From funerals to sewage, Carlos sorts it out,

ably assisted by his wife Adriana...when she turns up.

Carlos is the perfect man for this job.

He was born in this part of Mare, knows everyone,

and until a few years ago,

was a high-ranking drug trafficker himself.

So he brings all aspects of the favela together.

And to top it all off, he's brilliant at it.

DOGS BARKING

But living in drug trafficker territory means our days

are plagued by interruptions.

LOUD BANG

Those aren't gunshots you can hear,

they're fireworks released by our lookouts, warning residents

and drug traffickers that the police are about.

Carlos and Adriana have three young children and the constant police

raids make the favela a pretty stressful place to raise them.

But the favela isn't going to get more peaceful anytime soon.

The government plan to take control of Mare,

chasing out the drug traffickers.

It's a process they call pacification.

In the months leading up to pacification, the police put

drug traffickers under pressure with more and more frequent raids.

You may think no amount of police raids could be worse than

being ruled by drug traffickers, but it's not that simple.

Un-pacified favela life may not be ideal, but it's ours

and we're used to it.

So while we do have drug dealers on the corner, selling

from little stalls we call bocas, we've grown kind of used to them.

After all, they're just people with an unusual job.

But young people round here aren't all into drugs and guns.

Our anti-establishment favela vibe encourages kids to invent new

styles and start new trends.

It makes the favela the epicentre of Rio's street culture.

This is Breguete.

He's one of the city's hottest young street dancers.

He lives in an un-pacified favela called Complexo do Lins.

CHANTING AND SINGING

Breguete's 22 and a young dad.

He has two daughters with his girlfriend, Carol.

But there's no room for Carol and the girls to

live in Breguete's family's shack.

They can only pop round, like today.

Breguete has a plan.

He's entered a big dance competition and he's made it into the finals.

If he wins, the prize money would be enough to build

his own favela house.

But preparation for the competition is taking up a lot of his time.

Although the dance competition finals are in the Asphalt,

all 16 finalists are from Rio's favelas.

And there's a perfectly good reason for that.

In the kingdom of the drug traffickers, there are no

licensing laws, no noise pollution inspectors, and no curfews.

Every weekend there are massive illegal street parties,

where we dance all night, until dawn...and beyond.

We call them bailes.

MUSIC

If Brazil is the party capital of the world,

the favelas' bailes are its beating heart.

Forget Copacabana, the favela is the place to be on a Saturday night.

Samba was born in the favela.

And bailes gave us twerking

and new dance styles are springing up here all the time.

The baile where Breguete lives is one of the greatest in Rio.

The speakers are piled high.

The drinks are on ice.

And the local entrepreneurs are setting out their wares.

Drug dealers included.

For once, the drug traffickers' weapons are mostly for show.

Baile night is sacred, the police will never raid the favela

when the party's in full swing.

The baile is a chance for people to hang out with their mates

and dance till they drop.

Unless of course, like Breguete's girlfriend,

you're left at home holding the babies.

HIGH TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING

The latest dance craze to sweep the baile is called passinho...

little step.

It's a kind of freestyle breakdancing.

The boys who dance passinho are baile superstars

and in Lins, Breguete is the undisputed John Travolta.

Like all the best parties, the bailes last all night

and well into the next day.

And it's not just the drug dealers who profit from them.

The streets are lined with family businesses.

COCKEREL CROWS

Next morning, the police are interrupting again,

charging into the favela in their armoured tanks,

which we call "caveirao"...big skull.

Perhaps they're aiming to catch the drug dealers at the boca

while they're hung-over?

Guns have only one purpose - firing bullets -

and bullets don't always find their target.

Everyone knows someone who's been hit by a bala perdida -

a stray bullet.

And of course the traffickers see the police coming

a mile off, and just shut up shop till they've gone.

You think you have a stressful school run...

It's what keeps Carlos and Adriana awake at night.

Of all the hats he wears, the one Carlos takes most seriously

is being a dad.

But he has to squeeze it in between a very demanding job

and studying for a business degree.

Rio needs our favelas like a body needs a heart.

Just take a closer look, you don't know our names

but we're the porters at the airport,

the bellboys in your hotel, the sun hat seller on the beach.

Wherever there's a wealthy area,

there's a favela next door doing the laundry.

Breguete has just finished his day job as a cleaner

in the hospital next to his favela.

But he can't go home or see his daughters -

he's got a competition to prepare for.

It's got a big money sponsor, and a win could change his life.

The whole favela is rooting for him.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Every week, Breguete teaches these kids how to dance passinho,

but it's not just a dance style, it's a dance-off.

MUSIC

Breguete is proof that inside every cleaner could be a star

waiting to shine.

If Breguete's dreams can come true, then maybe all of us

can reach for more.

He's not just dancing for himself, for his family, for his new home,

he's carrying the hopes of the whole favela.

Through all the years the city has been trying to keep us down,

we've just grown tougher and smarter.

The Asphaltos are always moaning about their traffic jams.

But where they see inconvenience, we see opportunity.

Vinicius has been working this stretch of motorway for 20 years.

And he wouldn't like to work anywhere else.

Now, you could live most of your life

without ever leaving the favela.

Say your prayers, do your nails, relax with a beer and barbecue.

But you have to admit, the Asphalt gives good beach.

This weekend, Carlos and Adriana are taking the kids to Ipanema beach

in the tourist area of the Asphalt.

Adriana used to live in a favela near here called Vidigal.

It was one of the first favelas to be pacified,

and life under government rule is a lot quieter than their home in Mare.

But Carlos isn't interested in moving to Vidigal.

He's got deep roots in his corner of Mare, Parque Uniao.

But Carlos has made one small concession to Adriana's wish to get out of Mare...

he's bought a car.

But he hasn't passed his test yet.

MUSIC: "Tequila" by The Champs

No parent would choose to raise their children

surrounded by armed police.

And in a problem not exactly unique to Brazil,

young black men are often a target.

And in the favela, police weapons certainly aren't for show.

When we see our sons staring down the barrel of a policeman's gun,

our hearts stand still.

Heaven knows it's hard being a teenager, wherever you live.

But for our young men especially, caught between police raids

and pressure from the drug traffickers,

a little headspace can be a life saver.

For such a young man, Breguete's seen a lot.

His brother was a drug trafficker and was shot dead at 15.

And a bala perdida, a stray bullet, took his father.

Breguete's trying his hardest to keep everyone happy.

He's barely seen Carol recently, so tonight he's taking her out.

He's saved enough money to take her to McDonalds on the Asphalt.

But he's just heard about an event for the Passinho finalists later tonight.

Rio has tried everything to try and fix what they see as the problem

of the favelas.

They knocked down our houses, tried fencing us in.

They tried placating us with concrete paths and football pitches.

And it's not as though we don't need any help.

Most of us won't see our 50th birthday,

thanks to bullets, disease or drugs.

But the government's approach to help

is often a little heavy-handed,

and they end up back where they started - sending in the troops.

Mare's police operation seem to be stepping up another gear

and we're all feeling a little jumpy.

And Adriana's getting closer to convincing Carlos

to get their family out of there.

GUNSHOT

SPORADIC GUNFIRE

The frequent police raids mean Carlos's kids

start to feel pretty cooped up.

Carlos's boys are growing up.

They're not far off the age when all children get a bit rebellious

and start responding to peer pressure.

But for favela teenagers,

there's a lot more on offer than piercings and cider.

People from the Asphalt will tell you about the drug traffickers'

reign of terror.

But what they don't understand is that these guys are our sons,

our brothers and our neighbours.

They'll tell you they're making the most of their

employment opportunities,

and regular shoot-outs means promotion can be pretty sudden.

With long hours, hired help as young as 12 or 13,

heavily armed bosses and a very low life expectancy,

tempers can start to fray.

And after a tough week at the office,

everyone needs a way to relax.

CHEERING

There are precious moments of tranquillity in the favela

that you won't find in the hustle of the city outside.

Its steep narrow streets mean there are few cars.

And within our small communities, 100 friendly eyes

watch our children play on the streets.

We don't even need to lock our houses.

No-one dares to steal in the favela

for fear of being punished by the traffickers.

But perhaps the central tenet of favela life is,

"Estamos juntos" - we stick together.

Vinicius is the godfather of the Mare motorway hawkers.

He doesn't just look after them on the road,

he looks out for them inside the favela, too.

And Vinicius believes no-one should muck about on the motorway

on an empty stomach.

EXCITED SHOUTING

But Vinicius can't shelter his gang from everything.

The papers say Mare's pacification operation will start any day,

and that will probably mean an end to their illegal motorway market.

# The wind of change...

# Is blowing. #

But sometimes, even the rhythm of the favela can miss a beat.

# Got to keep going

# Through this wind of... #

It's Friday, baile night in Mare,

but the police have launched an unofficial raid,

flying in the face of baile night etiquette.

They're shooting it out with the traffickers in the streets.

GUNFIRE

GUNFIRE CONTINUES

And after a sleepless night, fearing for his family,

surrounded by gunfire, Carlos is coping on his own today.

His wife is out of town.

# The wind of change

# Is blowing. #

We might be fighting to protect our world,

but that doesn't mean we're afraid to move with the times.

While Rio's rich imprison themselves with tradition,

we embrace change and the opportunities it offers us.

We have satellite TV, the internet, mobile phones

and millions of us are on Facebook.

Passinho spreads across the city on YouTube with dancers posting

videos of their latest moves.

Breguete has done everything he can do to prepare.

He's heading out of the favela

to prepare for the competition finals on the Asphalt.

The 16 finalists will perform their dance-offs

in front of a crowd of 20,000 people,

and the show will feature on Brazil's biggest channels.

It's a long way from the practice hall

in the backstreets of Breguete's favela.

EXCITED SHOUTING

The finalists will all dance knockout one-on-one battles

in front of the three judges.

The winners of those battles will dance against each other

until a single winner remains.

WOMEN SCREAM

Breguete has only one shot.

If he loses his first-round battle, he's out of the competition.

WOMEN SCREAM

Has he done enough to wow the judges?

Now he can only watch as his opponent dances.

CHEERING

As our government pours billions into our World Cup and Olympics,

ordinary families all over Brazil are feeling the pinch.

People are starting to ask if it's worth it.

CHANTING AND CLAPPING

In Rio, demonstrations sweep the Asphalt,

and a corner of Mare gets caught up in the violence around the protests.

But where, in the Asphalt, the police have been fighting the crowds

with rubber bullets and tear gas,

as they cross into the favela,

the heavy artillery comes out.

Nine Mare residents are shot and killed that night.

Even in the run-up to pacification, it's a shocking death toll.

Carlos and Adriana decide it's time for a change.

Carlos can't abandon his community.

The change must be for the whole favela.

Carlos has come up with an ambitious plan to occupy the motorway

next to Mare, where the trouble started.

It's never been done before and Adriana's nervous.

Despite the rain, more than a thousand people turn up

and face hundreds of armed police waiting on the border

between the favela and the Asphalt.

No-one knows what the police will do.

# Sad deserted shore...

# Your fickle friends are leaving. #

In one of the most peaceful protests of the year,

the people of Mare march out onto the Asphalt

and the police stand by and watch.

# It's time for them to go... #

Our demand is simple - that we be allowed to find our own solutions

to our own problems, without living in fear of the police.

People call the favela the shadow side of the city,

but actually it's the Asphalt that lives in OUR shadow.

We've grown to be the most inspiring and resourceful people in Rio.

We've created our own way of life, our own rules,

our own well-run communities.

And our pride is starting to show.

We're walking out onto the Asphalt with our heads held high.

Breguete's been chosen from hundreds of Passinho dancers

for free classical dance lessons on the Asphalt.

A new little step towards his dream.

Carlos is persisting with his driving lessons,

but, if he ever passes his test,

Adriana knows the best she can hope for is a day trip.

And if one day real peace does come to the favela,

who knows? Perhaps even drug traffickers' dreams could come true.

Next time on Welcome To Rio,

watch our city fall apart when the rains come.

And meet the feisty Funcheria women

whose lyrics are banned on the Asphalt.