By Luciana Magalhaes, Lisandra Paraguassu and Lucinda Elliott

RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s most lethal police operation ever has left President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stunned and struggling to handle the political fallout, as he attempts to reconcile international concerns over human rights violations with growing public support for a crackdown on crime.

That divide underscores a broader challenge facing Lula, who is hoping to run for reelection next year and has devoted his political capital to an “ecological transformation” of Brazil’s economy, capped by the U.N. climate conference COP30 starting this week, while most Brazilians are more preoccupied with public safety.

The October 28 military-style raid in Rio de Janeiro resulted in at least 121 deaths, including fou

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