Posts tagged opinion
“My House” in the Land of the Interest-free Car
Apr 29th
For the original article in Portuguese by Sérgio Magalhães* in O Globo, click here.
Troubled by the quality of construction of projects in the Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV, or My House My Life federal housing program), President Dilma Rousseff declared, “I wasn’t elected to give the people shoddy housing.”
The great demographic expansion and territorial occupation that characterize Brazil today date back to the middle of the last century. The cities bore the weight of the population growth and brought marked improvements in social indicators. In seventy years, the urban population has grown from 12 million to 170 million. And urban homes have More >
Forced Eviction of Aldeia Maracanã: How Not to Make a World Cup
Mar 23rd
Click here for original article in Portuguese, published on Blog da Raquel Rolnik, Special Rapporteur to the UN on Adequate Housing. Rolnik introduces the essay below, writing, “This morning we were taken aback by news of the violent eviction of Aldeia Maracanã, which occupied the former Indigenous Museum, located in the vicinity of the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Below is a text on the incident by Professor Fernanda Sánchez, from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF).”
Is this how we make a World Cup?
By Fernanda Sánchez*
On Friday, the Batalhão de Choque da Polícia Militar (Military police’s Shock Batallion) stormed the Aldeia Maracanã, the former Indigenous More >
What Is Missing for a Quality UPP Police Presence
Feb 18th
Before I begin, let me make clear that the information below is personal opinion, without generalizations.
Since the police entered and the militarization of the Jacarezinho favela on October 14, 2012, a policy the government baptized Pacifying Police Units – better known as UPP – little has changed in the favela where I was born and raised.
I am an activist, a photographer for the Agência Imagens do Povo, and a photography instructor. As I turn 25, I see part of the city of Rio de Janeiro entering a process of elitization and, as Representative Marcelo Freixo puts it, becoming a real corporate-city. The map of More >
Tourism in the Favelas: What About the Residents?
Jan 31st
Click here for original Portuguese Opinion piece by Itamar Silva in O Dia.
It is hard to contain water flowing downwards, smoke rising, and the tourist invasion of pacified favelas. Something must be done to prevent the positivity of the moment from turning into “communities just for show.” The pacified favelas have become targeted by a consumer’s lust seldom seen in Rio de Janeiro. From the moment the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) installed themselves, in some favelas it is like a new sarcophagus of Tutankamon, the Egyptian pharaoh, has been discovered. A legion of tourists, researchers, business men, and marketers ‘discovered’ the favelas.
During its almost More >
Recipe for the Government We Deserve
Nov 17th
I was recently asked to write an essay to start off a debate about the importance of transparency, and its relationship to participation, in Rio de Janeiro, for the new civil society site Meu Rio. The debate was launched November 17th. Here is my full response. — Theresa Williamson
Everything we do should start with the question: Why? What is my objective? So that from that starting point we can focus on the appropriate means to reach our goal. In the case of what type of society we want for ourselves and our children, I presume that our objective is to achieve a More >
