Rio's Dazzling Carnival Ends After All-Night Party

abcnews.go.com March 4 — By Carlos DeJuana

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro's famed Carnival parade came to a close at dawn on Tuesday after tons of body glitter and 20 hours of samba dazzled millions of viewers in Brazil and beyond.

Under threat from drug gangs that terrorized Rio last week, the two-day competition between 14 samba schools took place under its heaviest security yet as 3,000 army troops were called in to back up 30,000 police safeguarding the city.

It was the first time the army had to be deployed to help keep the city safe during the annual bash, an anything goes farewell to sin that ushers in the 40 days of Lent.

But the military presence did little to spoil the globally broadcast party, which was expected to draw nearly 400,000 out-of-town visitors, including 40,000 foreigners.

"You don't think you're going to make it, and then you hear all those people screaming and you get another burst of energy and just keep going," said Larry Karpen, a 34-year-old New Yorker who spent $125 to don a costume and parade before 70,000 cheering fans in Rio's massive "Sambadrome" stadium.

Decked out in elaborate, shimmering costumes, or as little as possible to avoid breaking the no-nudity rule, thousands of revelers in each samba school parade down a 700-yard (635 meter) runway backed by a thundering drum section and giant floats.

Each group is made up of about 4,000 people, many of whom have spent months rehearsing, and has 80 minutes to finish the course. They are judged on criteria including music, percussion, costumes, floats, originality and enthusiasm.

SOCCER AND VIOLENCE

This year's themes ranged from Brazil's African roots to its other national pastime, soccer. The Beija-Flor school used the event to denounce the poverty and violence rife in Brazil.

Beija-Flor's floats depicted smoky visions of hell, a violent car-jacking, hungry prisoners in squalid jail cells and, at the end, a massive likeness of Brazil's popular new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has promised to fight hunger and bridge the country's gaping income disparities.

"What we're telling is the story of humanity, and to do that we have to talk about what's going on in Brazil," said Beija-Flor's director, who is known simply as Laila.

Although purists complain Carnival has become too commercial as companies sponsor schools in exchange for what they say are ads disguised as samba themes, those who take part in the parade swear it is a one-of-a-kind experience.

"It was my first time but it won't be my last. I adored it," gushed Thais Nogueira, a 23-year-old drag queen and "Miss Gay Brazil" who paraded with the Unidos da Tijuca school.

The winning school will be announced on Ash Wednesday, when the festivities across the country officially come to a close.

Like every year, some sporadic violence flared up outside the Sambadrome and in the block parties that take place across a city as known for its crime as it is for its natural beauty.

Six people were shot and one was killed by police outside the stadium on the first night of parades after thieves swept through the area and assaulted passers-by. But police said the second night went off without any reported problems.

Over the weekend, an American tourist was shot in the leg while being mugged, but has already left the hospital.

Still, the incidents were a far cry from the coordinated attacks that rocked Rio last week, when drug gangs torched buses, set off firebombs and shot at police. Eleven people died in the violence.

Hoping to keep the city safe even after the tourist hordes go home, Rio's state authorities have asked that army troops remain in the city until month's end.

"People are scared, and they see an extra protection in the troops," said Jose Quintal, Rio's state security chief. (Additional reporting by Todd Benson)