• English
  • Português
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
RioOnWatch
  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • Greater Rio
  • Policies
    • Public Security
    • Housing
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Health
    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
    • Participation
    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
      • Anti-Racist Series
      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate
Latest News
  • [ June 21, 2025 ] ‘We’re Working at the Micro Level Because There Are People Destroying Things on a Macro Scale’: In Rio de Janeiro, ‘Green Roof Favela’ Engages Popular Culture on World Environment Day Civil Society
  • [ June 20, 2025 ] Get to Know ‘Gaia Space’, A Network of Women Fighting for Environmental Justice and Obstetric Dignity in Greater Rio de Janeiro *Highlight
  • [ June 10, 2025 ] Groundbreaking Oral History Project—‘Favela Climate Memory’—Launches Final Exhibition, Fostering Emotional Connection Between Climate, Nature and Community [Video] *Highlight
  • [ June 7, 2025 ] ‘Being a Black Woman Running a Museum Means Facing the Past, Eye to Eye… It’s Reparation in Motion’: Sinara Rúbia’s Full Speech at Brazil’s 1st Seminar on Anti-Racist Museums *Highlight
  • [ June 5, 2025 ] ‘A Museology That Doesn’t Serve Life Serves No Purpose’: ‘Unconventional’ Favela Museums Lead First Seminar of Rio de Janeiro’s Social Museology Network *Highlight
HomeMarli Peçanha

Marli Peçanha

#EvictionsWatch

Candomblé Priestess in Vila Autódromo Received Death Threats to Make Way for 2016 Olympics

By Heloisa Helena Costa Berto • Translation by Christopher Owens, Emma Platais, Luana Gama • February 23, 2016

Clique aqui para Português This is the second letter sent by Heloisa Helena Costa Berto and published on RioOnWatch. Read her first letter, published on September 17, 2015, here. I have spent the past month […]

#EvictionsWatch

Vila Autódromo on the Brink of Violence? Community Awakens to Shock Police and Wall

By David Robertson • January 15, 2016

Clique aqui para Português This Wednesday, January 13, Vila Autódromo woke up around 7 o’clock to find a large number of Rio’s Tropa de Choque (Shock Troops), a police unit specifically used for controlling large public manifestations and […]

#EvictionsWatch

Candomblé Priestess from Vila Autódromo Describes the Terror of the Eviction Process

By Heloisa Helena Costa Berto • Translation by Carolyn Oliveira • September 17, 2015

Clique aqui para Português Vila Autódromo evictee, Heloisa Helena Costa Berto, shared the letter she wrote documenting her painful ordeal with the City of Rio, with RioOnWatch. Here it is published in its entirety. Following is an urgent […]

#EvictionsWatch

Injunction Stopping Demolitions in Vila Autódromo Overturned

By Kate Steiker-Ginzberg • March 27, 2014

Clique aqui para Português The injunction preventing further demolitions in Vila Autódromo has been overturned. On Tuesday March 25, the head of the Rio State Public Defenders’ Office, whose Housing and Lands Office (NUTH) legally […]

#EvictionsWatch

Vila Autódromo Unites in Protest Following Weeks of Pressure

By Catherine Osborn • July 23, 2013

Clique aqui para Português It is a chorus heard from favela activists across the city, louder in these recent weeks of protest, but it still rings with a special weight coming from the Vila Autódromo […]

RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
A Project of

About

In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

Contact & Support

contact@rioonwatch.org
WhatsApp +55.21.991.976.444
USA VOIP +1.301.637.7360

Volunteer | Donate

10 Years! Check Out Our Story:

Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • Greater Rio
  • Policies
    • Public Security
    • Housing
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Health
    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
    • Participation
    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
      • Anti-Racist Series
      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate

© 2025 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International