{"id":22402,"date":"2015-06-08T10:26:47","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T13:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=22402"},"modified":"2018-01-15T18:44:28","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T21:44:28","slug":"tense-week-introduces-new-policy-of-lightening-evictions-across-rio-favelas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=22402","title":{"rendered":"Tense Week Introduces New Policy of “Lightning Evictions” Across Rio Favelas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click Here for English\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In\u00a0Santa Marta<\/a> in Rio\u2019s South Zone<\/a>,\u00a0Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>\u00a0near the Olympic Park in the West Zone<\/a>, and Favela do Metr\u00f4<\/a> in the North Zone<\/a>, a series of “lightning evictions”–forced evictions<\/a>\u00a0with little or no warning and tenuous court approval–took place in favelas across Rio last\u00a0week\u00a0in a climate of confusion and tension in what appears to be a new shift in policy.<\/p>\n

Just 14 months prior to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the\u00a0land grab<\/a> that has come to characterize pre-Olympic Rio<\/a> appears to have taken a turn for the worse.\u00a0From\u00a0January 2009 to December 2013 over\u00a020,000 families, or 67,000 people, were removed from their homes<\/a>. The victims\u00a0continue to pile up.<\/p>\n

Here is a chronological sequence of last week’s happenings:<\/p>\n

Morro da Provid\u00eancia<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On May 28, residents of\u00a0Morro da Provid\u00eancia<\/a>,\u00a0Rio\u2019s oldest favela, located in the city’s center close to the\u00a0Port redevelopment<\/a>, posted photos on social media<\/a>\u00a0showing evicted residents having their\u00a0belongings taken away\u00a0while the Military Police watched at the nearby Rego Barros Tunnel.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a><\/p>\n

Though the community has been successful in halting widespread demolitions (one-third of the historic community was initially targeted<\/a>) through a court victory<\/a> based on lack of popular participation, some homes continue to be targeted on the grounds that their houses are in \u201careas of risk<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Favela do Metr\u00f4<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On May 29,\u00a0workers and shopkeepers were evicted by the City without prior warning<\/a>\u00a0in Favela do Metr\u00f4<\/a>, situated near the Maracan\u00e3 soccer\u00a0stadium in Rio\u2019s North Zone<\/a>. The community was first victim of a long, drawn-out eviction<\/a> lasting from 2010-2013 purportedly for the World Cup (but on which construction\u00a0never materialized<\/a>), followed by a series of repeated evictions<\/a> since then, as homes became occupied by people in need of housing.\u00a0Last week’s evictions took place among\u00a0the automotive workshops\u00a0and shops of the commercial strip in the community, which the Mayor had pledged to compensate with a new automotive hub<\/a>, the “Parque Linear Automotivo Metr\u00f4-Mangueira,” on the site, which was never built.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Students from Rio\u00a0State University (UERJ), whose main campus neighbors Favela do Metr\u00f4, joined protests in support of evictees. The protest moved into the UERJ campus building<\/a> after violence broke out.<\/p>\n

A court injunction was issued<\/a> on May 29\u00a0forbidding the City from continuing with demolitions in Favela do Metr\u00f4, with fines\u00a0of R$20,000 (US$6,300) for every home destroyed.\u00a0But the injunction came too late for many workers and shopkeepers whose properties\u00a0and belongings were destroyed.<\/p>\n

In a video posted on YouTube<\/a>, Alessandro, Favela do Metr\u00f4 resident, said he had no time to save any of the material he kept for resale in his two-story property. \u201cThe government arrived at short notice, asking me to leave immediately. They didn\u2019t give me time to save even 10%\u00a0of the material I had here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A debate with residents, business owners, public defenders, law professors and others is being planned for Wednesday June 10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tavares Bastos<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On May 29, eviction notices were handed out to\u00a0residents of Tavares Bastos<\/a>, located just above Flamengo and Catete neighborhoods, in Rio’s South Zone<\/a>.\u00a0Bob Nadkarni, long-term resident and owner of the world-famous jazz bar The MAZE, had been the first to receive such notices in the months prior and is fighting the accusations<\/a> of risk in court.\u00a0Fears that the threat of removing\u00a0one of the most solid structures in the community–The MAZE–was just the first step in a wider campaign to remove the entire community, are now growing, and residents are organizing. A “lightning eviction” has not yet happened here, but given the developments in numerous other favelas over the same week, the risk cannot be discarded.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a><\/p>\n

Santa Marta<\/h3>\n

On June 1, five houses were demolished at the summit of Santa Marta<\/a>\u00a0over Rio’s South Zone<\/a> neighborhood of Botafogo, with\u00a0distressing scenes\u00a0posted to YouTube<\/a>\u00a0and filmed<\/a> by resident and guide Thiago Firmino.\u00a0The families living at the peak\u00a0of the community\u00a0that has gained recognition as a positive example of government intervention in favelas\u00a0had successfully fought attempts at eviction\u00a0since 2011<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a><\/p>\n

In the video, Santa Marta residents said they were given a month\u2019s warning of impending evictions on the basis of\u00a0their houses being\u00a0in an area of risk<\/a>. However, no technical evaluation of the land took place in advance of the evictions.<\/p>\n

One removed resident appeared visibly distressed in the video: \u201cWhere will I keep my things? Where will I sleep tonight?\u201d She also said\u00a0she didn\u2019t want to sleep in the public shelter offered by the government.<\/p>\n

Another resident was\u00a0filmed surveying the damage after the demolition of the house he built himself. \u201cThis was my life, now it\u2019s a garbage dump,\u201d he said, pointing out his sofa, TV, wardrobe and fridge standing among the rubble in the open air.<\/p>\n

Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On June 3, residents of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>, which\u00a0neighbors the future\u00a0Olympic Park in Rio\u2019s West Zone<\/a>, were met with violence by the Municipal Guard<\/a>\u00a0as they resisted demolitions of two houses in the community. Video documentation posted on Facebook confirms police used rubber bullets, pepper spray and batons<\/a>\u00a0on the protesters, injuring several residents, some requiring surgery.<\/p>\n

\"Injured<\/a><\/p>\n

Vila Aut\u00f3dromo has become\u00a0known<\/a> for decades of determined and exemplary resistance<\/a> which resulted in the community receiving land titles and serving as inspiration to others. However, in the face of five years of\u00a0intimidation and uncertainty with City officials determined to clear\u00a0the site due to its proximity to\u00a0the Olympic Games and luxury housing<\/a> to follow, around 90% of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s 600 residents have now left the community, taking\u00a0offers<\/a> of compensation or public housing from the City. But a small group continue to resist eviction.<\/p>\n

The community pronounced\u00a0that the two property owners hadn\u2019t been given advance notice of the demolition and\u00a0were still awaiting full compensation from the City. Public Defender Maria L\u00facia de Pontes told\u00a0newspaper O Dia<\/em><\/a>: \u201cEven if the City was acting within the law, it can\u2019t carry out a judicial decision with such violence when there are doubts about the decision itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Residents<\/a><\/p>\n

Photos of injured Vila Aut\u00f3dromo residents were shared widely on social media<\/a>. Maria da Penha [featured on Swedish TV<\/a> in March] was photographed\u00a0with a black eye and bloody face. Her nose was broken by police. In an interview posted on YouTube<\/a>, she described the situation: \u201c[The City] didn\u2019t even give one week\u2019s notice for the family to leave. They came and said they had to leave today. All the residents in the community came together [to resist].\u201d She added that\u00a0the violence was completely unprovoked: \u201cWe didn\u2019t mess with [the police], we weren\u2019t aggressive\u2026 But I was beaten.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eviction was suspended after judicial intervention. Globo News<\/em> reported that a new demolition is likely to happen today, Monday\u00a0June 8<\/a>. Last night residents took to social media requesting support, and an all-night vigil<\/a> took place, followed by strengthened numbers this morning awaiting demolition crews. Representatives of a number of well-known movements and organizations are present, including Brazil’s historic Ibase<\/a>, the National Movement for Housing Vindication<\/a> (MNLM) and the Popular Committee on the World Cup and Olympics<\/a>, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click Here for English In\u00a0Santa Marta in Rio\u2019s South Zone,\u00a0Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u00a0near the Olympic Park in the West Zone, and Favela do Metr\u00f4 in the North Zone, a series of “lightning evictions”–forced evictions\u00a0with little or no […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":22405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1294,1293,1267,1736,1288,328,336,1329],"tags":[9,190,272,11,282,26,25,634,1656,1259,918,919,37,5,17,148,18,144,270,66,156,1615,4,21],"writer":[1596],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-communitymedia","8":"category-evictionswatch","9":"category-gentrificationwatch","10":"category-1736","11":"category-highlight","12":"category-understanding-rio","13":"category-violations","14":"category-by-international-observers","15":"tag-9","16":"tag-comite-popular","17":"tag-mayor-eduardo-paes","18":"tag-forced-evictions","19":"tag-housing","20":"tag-housing-rights","21":"tag-human-rights","22":"tag-ibase","23":"tag-lightning-eviction","24":"tag-mega-events","25":"tag-military-police","26":"tag-mnlm","27":"tag-north-zone","28":"tag-olympics","29":"tag-police-brutality","30":"tag-port-region","31":"tag-protest","32":"tag-morro-da-providencia","33":"tag-resistance","34":"tag-santa-marta","35":"tag-south-zone","36":"tag-tavares-bastos","37":"tag-vila-autodromo","38":"tag-west-zone","39":"writer-sarah-jacobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22402"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=22402"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=22402"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=22402"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=22402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}