In Rio, where rainforest meets surf and glass balconies overlook stacked mosaics of tin and prayer, I learned that the state, the narcos, and the civilians breathe the same air while fighting different wars that end at dawn and begin again by night.

Families of the scores of people killed in a deadly gang raid by Rio de Janeiro police began burying the dead on Thursday, with residents left reeling by the scenes of carnage and livid at law enforce...

“The elevated lethality of the operation was expected but not desired,” Victor Santos, head of security for Rio state, told a news conference.