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The news is nonstop and so are the rumors, although these are beginning to slow. At this moment, José Junior, coordinator of Rio’s most successful NGO, AfroReggae, is in the Complexo do Alemão set of favelas, negotiating a surrender with the drug traffickers under siege there by the military police and the army. If he’s successful, the pacification of the North Zone’s Complex, which covers 13 favelas home to more than 65,000 people, will certainly shift police attention to the Rocinha favela, along with a great deal of drama and danger. But the trend is clearly in the direction of peace and safety for more cariocas than ever before.

It’s impossible for a blog to keep up with breaking events in Rio de Janeiro, but the best up-to-date information can be found in O Globo, the Extra crime column, O Dia and TV Globo.

If you have a moment and would like to think about the transformation of Rio de Janeiro, read what follows, made available to RioRealblog by an anonymous observer, on the events of the last few days:

1 – For the first time, cariocas aren’t thrilled to be receiving the army. They trust the police, especially the Bope, the special ops battalion;

2 – For the first time, people aren’t talking about “[Governor] Cabral’s police”, as they used to do with “[former governor] Brizola’s police, [former governor] Garotinho’s police” etc… Now, the police belong to them;

3 – For the first time, the enemy doesn’t have a face. We’re not talking about hunting down Crazy so-and-, Fernandinho what’s-his-name, nor Cabbage Snot !!!! The enemy is now crime itself. The policy of inventing a Public Enemy Number 1 no longer exists;

4 –  TV Globo’s images ruined any glamour that these criminals might have had. As someone wrote, the CV [Comando Vermelho, or Red Command] has become Run Crapola!