“The sight of young men in board shorts and flip-flops holding high-powered assault rifles is one you never get used to. A few weeks ago in one of Rio de Janeiro’s most violent favelas, half a dozen such young men were sitting on plastic chairs around a small TV set that had been brought onto the street. They drank beer and chain smoked bagulhos, fat conical joints. One guy wore a thick gold chain with two plastic baggies dangling off it, one filled with white powdered cocaine, the other crack. A couple of others, we noticed, accessorized with grenades strapped to their belts. Just a few miles away, thousands of fans from around the globe were gathering at Fan Fest on Copacabana Beach to watch the opening World Cup match between Brazil and Croatia.” Fusion (Video)