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Contra a Copa: The Other Side of Brazil's World Cup (Part 2)

VICE News meets the teams leading the pacification effort of Rio's favelas.

Although it might have seemed like a good idea to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil — one of the most soccer-obsessed countries in the world — massive social unrest has taken the country by storm in the lead-up to the tournament.The Brazilian government is spending an estimated $14 billion on this year's tournament, making it the most expensive World Cup to date.

This has provoked outrage among Brazilians, many of whom view the government as corrupt, and are now seeing vast amounts of money being spent on soccer stadiums and police, while the country's endemic poverty and social issues are ignored. This growing unrest led to violent anti-government protests breaking out in June of 2013, which have continued with increasing momentum in the lead-up to the World Cup. The Brazilian government has responded to these demonstrations by deploying massive numbers of police and military throughout the country in an attempt to suppress the masses. Despite this crackdown, major demonstrations continue to take place in cities across the country as international teams begin to arrive for the games.

In part two of this five-part series, VICE News went to one of the favelas surrounding Rio to see how the Brazilian government is cracking down on crime and drugs through a "pacification" program led by the military and police.

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