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At least 18 suspects and several police officers were killed Tuesday during a massive anti-drug raid in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian authorities said."So far, we have 56 arrests and 18 criminals neutralized," Rio State Governor Claudio Castro told a press conference.He described the operation, which involved 2,500 officers and targeted a suspected drug-trafficking ring at a favela in Rio, as the "largest in the history" of the state.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned Tuesday that "anti-democratic forces" were seeking to subjugate institutions after he was targeted by an alleged coup plot orchestrated by his predecessor.Former president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment earlier this month for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to leftist Lula.US President Donald Trump, who was to speak after Lula, has viciously attacked Brazil for pursuing far-right Bolsonaro and his son, ramping up economic sanctions and visa bans in retaliation."Throughout the world, anti-democratic forces are trying to subjugate institutions and stifle freedoms," he said at the UN's signature diplomatic week.Trump has heaped pressure on Brazil over what he termed a "witch hunt" against his longtime ally, imposing a 50 percent tariff in July on a variety of Brazilian products that took effect last month."Brazil sent a message to all aspiring autocrats and those who support them -- our democracy, our sovereignty, are non-negotiable," Lula told the UN General Assembly just before Trump addressed the assembly.Brazil's chief prosecutor charged Eduardo Bolsonaro on Monday over his lobbying for US sanctions in a bid to sway the outcome of the coup trial against his father.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week vowed further action to pressure Brazil over the conviction.On Monday, the Treasury Department announced it was freezing the assets and visa of Moraes's wife Viviane Barci de Moraes and Lex, a firm linked to the family.Rubio accused de Moraes of acting to "weaponize courts, authorize arbitrary pre-trial detentions, and suppress freedom of expression."The Brazilian government previously condemned an "undue interference in Brazilian internal affairs," saying the measures had been justified by "falsehoods.""Brazil will not bow to this further aggression."De Moraes said the sanctions against his wife were "illegal and deplorable."Also on Monday, Attorney General Jorge Messias said he had been the target of "unjust aggression," responding to media reports his US visa had been revoked.Messias said the latest measures "exacerbate an unreasonable set of unilateral actions, completely incompatible with the peaceful and harmonious conduct of diplomatic and economic relations built over 200 years between the two countries."