{"id":26453,"date":"2016-01-21T17:19:24","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T20:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=26453"},"modified":"2016-02-03T10:21:30","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T13:21:30","slug":"mayor-eduardo-paes-once-again-states-vila-autodromo-will-remain-and-claims-favela-upgrades-a-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=26453","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Eduardo Paes Pledges Vila Aut\u00f3dromo Will Remain and Claims Favela Upgrades a Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, January 19, Mayor Eduardo Paes<\/a> took questions from an audience of around 80 people at OsteRio<\/a>, an event<\/a> organized by online magazine\u00a0Vozerio<\/a><\/em> and the Institute for the Study of Labor\u00a0and Society (IETS)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The tone of the evening was friendly but several questions were critical. The discussion covered topics from Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a> and the Olympic\u00a0legacy for Rio’s favelas<\/a>, to urban violence<\/a>, the City’s investment in museums<\/a> and the mayor’s\u00a0chosen candidate to succeed him, Pedro Paulo<\/a>, who denies accusations<\/a>\u00a0of domestic violence against his wife.<\/p>\n

Journalist Julia Michaels asked the mayor\u00a0about the plans for Vila Aut\u00f3dromo during and after the Olympic Games. Once pressed for a position, Paes re-stated his claim<\/a> that Vila Aut\u00f3dromo is the only case of evictions<\/a>\u00a0to have occurred as a direct result of the mega-events<\/a>, and implied that the process is nearly done: “There only remains one [family] that doesn’t want to leave that has to leave. And of all the others, who don’t want to leave, there are 30. They want to stay and they will stay. There’s no problem.”<\/p>\n

\"OsteRio,<\/p>\n

Mayor Paes has repeatedly stated that part of the community could remain, most recently in public to O Globo<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>in October of last year and\u00a0BBC Brasil<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>in August. However, recent\u00a0activity<\/a> by Shock Troops and Municipal Guards in the community, continued threats<\/a> from City officials, and an apparent disregard for the damage caused<\/a>\u00a0to the neighborhood by Olympic Park construction have all kept residents in state of panic and anticipation of eviction. After learning of the Mayor’s latest reaffirmation,\u00a0residents posted<\/a> on the community Facebook page:<\/p>\n

“Where is the upgrading\u00a0plan, Mr. Mayor? It is meaningless to say the families who want to stay will have their wish respected, if in practice what the City does is to make life in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo more and more difficult!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Residents and allies following the community closely were shocked this morning, January 21,\u00a0when\u00a0150 armed Shock Troops entered the community<\/a>, visiting residents of the thirty houses the mayor said would remain, informing them they must stop construction. The mayor’s public pledges to maintain Vila Aut\u00f3dromo appear to constitute\u00a0a ‘Trojan Horse<\/a>,’ one of the strategies RioOnWatch<\/em> has documented<\/a>\u00a0the City undertaking to ease evictions in highly visible cases, where public statements are used to diffuse public concern while behind the scenes plans of eviction only intensify.<\/p>\n

At OsteRio, the Mayor continued: “Of the others, everyone left, voluntarily.” Although some Vila Aut\u00f3dromo residents were offered the first market-rate compensations<\/a> in favela history, threats from government officials combined with the deterioration of the community’s public spaces<\/a>\u00a0has meant more residents were pushed out of the community than the number of compensations accepted\u00a0suggests.\u00a0RioOnWatch\u00a0<\/em>has documented the stories\u00a0of many\u00a0residents\u2014including Heloisa Helena<\/a>, Jane<\/a>, Tadilmarco<\/a>, Barr\u00e3o<\/a>, Jos\u00e9<\/a>, among others\u2014who felt forced to accept\u00a0offers to leave when they wanted to stay.<\/p>\n

The mayor reminded the audience that those who left Vila Aut\u00f3dromo also had the option to take apartments in Parque Carioca<\/a>, a Minha Casa Minha Vida<\/a> (MCMV) public housing complex\u00a0located a kilometer from the community. “For the people who like to do these dossiers<\/a>,” he said, presumably referring to the Popular Committee’s dossiers on human rights violations<\/a> ahead of Rio 2016, “I invite them to go with me to the condominium.” While some former Vila Aut\u00f3dromo families may indeed be pleased with their new\u00a0homes, RioOnWatch<\/em> has documented a high level of dissatisfaction<\/a> among resettled families in Parque Carioca and\u00a0other MCMV condominiums, due to complaints\u00a0of poor construction<\/a>, difficulty meeting costs<\/a>, distance<\/a>, and\u00a0violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The one family<\/a> mentioned by the mayor as still targeted for removal\u00a0lives in the path of a newly\u00a0planned access road to the Olympic Park. They have been among the most vocal resisters over the years, heavily involved in the community meetings generating Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s internationally recognized\u00a0People’s Plan<\/a>. The participatory plan, initially designed to upgrade the entire community, bringing it to standard and guaranteeing all residents\u00a0remain\u00a0next to the Olympic Park, has been updated by residents and the two federal universities involved iteratively, at each step along the way.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n

When pressed about what will happen to Vila Aut\u00f3dromo and the Olympic Park area after the Olympics<\/a>, Mayor Paes said one of the sports arenas could be turned into a school. He denied speculations<\/a> that luxury apartment buildings will be built in the immediate area, emphasizing that\u00a0it is a “public area.” Mayor Paes’ final term ends in December, however, so any commitments he makes would have to be upheld by his successor.<\/p>\n

As for the Olympic legacy for favelas in general, Paes identified inroads made in North Zone<\/a> and West Zone<\/a> favelas in access to primary and comprehensive public healthcare<\/a> as well as increased upgrading. He referenced the Morar Carioca<\/a> favela upgrading program and went on to list improvements in water, sewerage, and public lighting.<\/p>\n

Morar Carioca was\u00a0a popular and internationally awarded<\/a>\u00a0municipal plan for participatory upgrading\u00a0in favelas, and it was\u2014and still is\u2014marketed<\/a> as a key social legacy of the 2016 Olympics. It aimed to upgrade\u00a0all of Rio’s favelas by 2020. It also promised rigorous vetting for project design by carefully selected architecture firms and substantial community participation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Morar Carioca in its original promising form<\/a> has\u00a0been abandoned<\/a>, as international media have recognized<\/a>.\u00a0RioOnWatch<\/em>\u00a0researcher Kate Steiker-Ginzberg\u00a0<\/em>found in 2014<\/a> that the highly publicized\u00a0label\u00a0of Morar Carioca has been used for projects that did not meet the program’s standards.<\/p>\n

The improvements Mayor Paes spoke of were\u00a0not\u00a0implemented through the prescribed process. Robust community engagement and significant\u00a0City-led favela upgrading have not been a feature of favela upgrading under his administration. Still, he implied\u00a0his administration has delivered favela upgrading to all favelas via Morar Carioca\u00a0when he argued that “the only thing that wasn’t fulfilled, that was an Olympic promise…is the question of the\u00a0Guanabara Bay<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

While the Mayor\u2019s statements are intended to offer reassurance to Rio residents and favela advocates\u00a0across the city and globe, they also offer reminders of broken promises. It’s not only Vila Aut\u00f3dromo residents who are asking: “Where is the urbanization plan, Mr. Mayor?” All of us can ask: Where is the promised Olympic legacy for favelas, Mr. Mayor?<\/p>\n

\"150<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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