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Favela do Vidigal, home to 30 thousand people, located on a hill overlooking the ocean between two of Rio de Janeiro's poshest neighborhoods, Leblon and São Conrado. Like almost all shantytowns in Rio de Janeiro, Vidigal spent years under the control of heavily armed drug gangs. When the city was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Rio government began a new policing strategy, called Pacification Policing, to regain the control of chosen favelas strategic for the safety of the Games. A charming community with a welcoming atmosphere, an intense cultural life and one of the most breathtaking views of Rio, Vidigal quickly became the most successful story of the Pacification program. Drug traffic didn’t completely disappear, but armed men no longer controlled it’s streets and alleyways. Police officers could patrol the community on foot and both locals and outsiders could walk around without risking harassment. Soon Vidigal became a magnet for tourists and wealthy cariocas alike, who first made it a party destination and didn’t take long to start buying hillside shacks to replace them with fancy houses and boutique hotels. Residents feared gentrification would make their community unaffordable to them, but welcomed the attention and economic opportunities. Now, with Rio's economic colapse after the games and the government in a state of paralysis because of a giant corruption scandal, they are witnessing the community's reversal to it's violent past, as drug dealers regain control and public services onde more disappear

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Filename: 20160408_VidigalGeo_DIG_0001__DSC4023-Edit.jpg
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Favela do Vidigal, home to 30 thousand people, located on a hill overlooking the ocean between two of Rio de Janeiro's poshest neighborhoods, Leblon and São Conrado. Like almost all shantytowns in Rio de Janeiro, Vidigal spent years under the control of heavily armed drug gangs. When the city was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Rio government began a new policing strategy, called Pacification Policing, to regain the control of chosen favelas strategic for the safety of the Games. A charming community with a welcoming atmosphere, an intense cultural life and one of the most breathtaking views of Rio, Vidigal quickly became the most successful story of the Pacification program. Drug traffic didn’t completely disappear, but armed men no longer controlled it’s streets and alleyways. Police officers could patrol the community on foot and both locals and outsiders could walk around without risking harassment. Soon Vidigal became a magnet for tourists and wealthy cariocas alike, who first made it a party destination and didn’t take long to start buying hillside shacks to replace them with fancy houses and boutique hotels. Residents feared gentrification would make their community unaffordable to them, but welcomed the attention and economic opportunities. Now, with Rio's economic colapse after the games and the government in a state of paralysis because of a giant corruption scandal, they are witnessing the community's reversal to it's violent past, as drug dealers regain control and public services onde more disappear