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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

‘Avenue of Death’: the Rio motorway where stray bullets, botched raids and resilience collide

‘Brazil Avenue is an avenue that is so profoundly revealing about what our country is …’
‘Brazil Avenue is an avenue that is so profoundly revealing about what our country is …’ Photograph: Alan Lima/The Guardian

When Renato Oliveira boarded a bus down Brazil Avenue one morning last October it should have been just another normal commute.

Traveling along Rio’s most important motorway, it usually took the 48-year-old meat packer just under an hour to reach his factory – enough time for a nap. “Don’t let me miss my stop,” Oliveira told a friend before nodding off against the window.

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