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A spectacular robbery of art works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet and Dali marred the start of Rio's Carnival Friday, which saw a slimmer than usual King Momo kick off festivities to feverish samba rhythms.
Just as festivities hit a frenzy, gunmen burst into the Chacara do Ceu museum in Rio de Janeiro and made off with their most valuable paintings and a book by Picasso.
The paintings were Pablo Picasso's "The Dance" and a book by him titled "Toros", Claude Monet's "Marine", Henri Matisse's "Garden of Luxembourg" and Salvador Dali's "Two Balconies", museum director Vera de Alencar told reporters.
De Alencar said at least four men brandishing firearms had been involved in the heist -- including one holding a hand grenade. The gunmen also mugged five tourists inside the museum, she said.
She said the robbers knew exactly what they were taking.
"Dali's picture, for example, is the only one by him in public exhibition in Latin America," she said.
The theft came as the world's biggest street party got under way.
"I give this key to King Momo to launch Carnival 2006. Let the festivities begin!" Mayor Otavio Leite said over the pounding drums and samba music outside Palacio de Cidade, the town hall, in Rio's southern Botafogo district.
Flanked by a voluptuous queen and a princess, King Momo shouted to his followers to have the best time of their lives, as the Sao Clemente school of samba in their spectacular outfits launched the five-day street party.
For the next few days, the streets of Rio will pulsate to the rhythm of dozens of "bandas" and "blocos" that make up the city's 14 samba schools. Eventually they will parade in Rio's Sambodrome, where the best will be crowned.
But tradition for the past three years has taken a back seat to Mayor Leite's anti-obesity campaign. Instead of the portly frame usually asked of King Momo, he now must be no heavier than 130 kilogrammes (285 pounds).
That requisite apparently did not put off this year's Carnival monarch, Alex de Oliveira, who in order to keep the crown, it is rumored, shed about 45 kilos (100 pounds).
But Rio's Carnival is not all about scantily clad beauties, colorful floats and powerful rhythms. Politics has its place, too.
The 3,600-member samba school Unite of Vila Isabel, sponsored by Venezuela's state-owned oil giant PDVSA, is to parade under the theme of Latin American integration on Sunday and Monday.
As Carnival got into full swing Friday, gunmen forced staff at the Chacara do Ceu to disconnect the building's alarm and camera system, snatched its most precious works, then disappeared into the vast crowd of revelers.
There was no immediate estimate made of the value of the stolen paintings.
Police told journalists a museum guard who tried to stop the thieves was hit in the face, while another who attempted to yank the Picasso from a robber's hands got hit over the head with a weapon.
The head of the culture ministry's museum department, Jose do Nascimento Junior, urged prompt police action to recuperate the stolen art.
"Now it's vital to make widely available pictures of the stolen paintings to prevent them from being sold," he said.
Pop star and Culture Minister Gilberto Gil made the official complaint about the robbery to federal police.
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Brazil-Carnival
AFP 251432 GMT 02 06
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