Rio de Janeiro has spent much of the past year trying to “pacify” its favelas — slums around the city that are home to a huge portion of the metropolis’s population — as well as its crime. On Tuesday night, one of those favelas erupted in violence, prompting question in advance of this summer’s World Cup.
Brazil’s economy has steadily grown for a decade, life has gotten better for the lower classes. More and more Brazilians have refrigerators, washers and cars. Other gauges of a middle class life are harder to acquire, like access to higher education.