Archive for November, 2010
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A Fresh View of Asa Branca
Nov 26th
The favela of Asa Branca is one of the communities in the Barra da Tijuca Olympic zone which, like many poor communities across Rio, is under threat, in this case by civil works which are set to cut a swathe through the neighbourhood.
Asa is a rambling low-rise neighbourhood, nestled in among a creek bursting with bulrushes. It is a stable community with no drugs and no armed command. It has high levels of employment and the majority of children are in school. There is a pizza shop, dress store and community post office among others on the main street. There More >
Media presence halts demolitions in Vila Taboinha
Nov 15th
The morning of November 12th, 2010 – Despite a concerted resistance effort by residents of Vila Taboinha and frantic action by community groups and the public defenders earlier in the week, a bulldozer, supported by a police team, rolled into the community and started demolishing houses.
Late the previous day an accord had supposedly been reached between the community and the Housing Sub-Secretary of Rio de Janeiro, which would grant Vila Taboinha a 30 day reprieve until the residents and their houses had been registered by the prefeitura. However, registration was still taking place in the community hall as the bulldozer began its More >
The Media Role in the Removal of Vila Taboinha
Nov 13th
This past week, residents of the community of Vila Taboinha, in the far West Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, were faced with their forced eviction and successfully resisted.
Residents settled in the area just 6 years ago, when it was still a swamp, and they worked together to fill it in and make the land usable. About 4 years later, a construction company along with a group of individuals that own the lots got together to file a lawsuit to get the residents out and develop the land. However, the law states that the owners must bear the More >
The Past and Present of Alto Camorim
Nov 11th
The community of Alto Camorim has existed for more than 100 years; my cousin Moacir Francisco de Azevedo, who lives here and is 89 years old, was born in the community and his father, Caetano, whose name appears in the book Sertão Carioca by Cecília Meirelles, worked for Vitória da Sá, who used to own all the land from Camorim to Vargem Grande.
Time passed and everyone established their families and livelihoods here. They were farmers and cultivated bananas, manioc, vegetables and beans; raised pigs and hens; and hunted and fished in the Baixada de Jacarepaguá.
Today the community is composed of 200 More >
Evictions at Favela do Metrô clear the way for World Cup parking
Nov 5th
Devastated, as the home she built is destroyed by City workers
4th November 2010 This week residents of Favela do Metro, close to Maracana football stadium, awoke to the arrival of removalists and demolition crews from the Prefeitura of Rio de Janeiro, who had come to evict them from homes. By today, at least two dozen homes have been cleared, their windows and roofs smashed in and the process ground inexorably on.
The evictions and destruction had no discernable pattern, it was simply random stabbing across the neighbourhood. The stress was evident, many people just sat listless in the heat, waiting for their More >
