RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Drug gangs ordered schools and businesses shut down across large swaths of Rio de Janeiro yesterday in what officials said was an unprecedented show of force by criminals in an increasingly public war with Brazil's police.
From the ritzy shops in the city's famous Ipanema neighborhood to Rio's ghettos, business was brought to a virtual standstill in at least 10 neighborhoods. Schoolchildren were released from classes early or told not to come. Tourists at some hotels were warned to stay inside. Thousands of police officers spilled into the streets.