{"id":33636,"date":"2016-10-25T15:37:50","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T18:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=33636"},"modified":"2019-08-04T06:55:19","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T09:55:19","slug":"marcelo-freixo-socialist-candidate-running-for-mayor-of-rio-de-janeiro-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=33636","title":{"rendered":"Marcelo Freixo, Socialist Candidate Running for Mayor of Rio de Janeiro [PROFILE]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cI don\u2019t want to take care of\u00a0you. I want to govern with<\/em> you!\u201d said\u00a0Marcelo Freixo<\/a>\u00a0recently,\u00a0beaming to a cheering crowd at a rally supporting his candidacy in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s North Zone<\/a>, and in direct counter point to\u00a0his evangelical rival’s\u00a0insistence he will “take care of” the people<\/a>. This is the 49-year-old politician\u2019s second time running for mayor and as in 2012, he is rising quickly<\/a> in the polls,\u00a0trailing after the more conservative candidate<\/a>\u00a0after the two made it to the second round, in this case\u00a0from amongst\u00a0the eleven candidates<\/a> in the first round of voting.<\/p>\n

Freixo was a member of the Workers’ Party (PT<\/a>) from 1986 through\u00a02005, when he left to join the\u00a0Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL<\/a>), newly\u00a0formed<\/a> in 2004 by members expelled from the PT and others who left by choice as the PT\u00a0formed unscrupulous alliances with polemic right-wing politicians. Freixo began his career\u00a0as a history teacher<\/a>\u00a0and later\u00a0became\u00a0a human rights<\/a> researcher with Brazilian NGO Global Justice starting in 2003, both of which he has continued engaged with\u00a0during his years in\u00a0politics.<\/p>\n

Freixo’s career grew in\u00a0intensity\u00a0between 1993 and 1996<\/a>, when he\u00a0was\u00a0director of the Teacher’s Union (SINPRO)\u00a0and\u00a0worked\u00a0as a mediator between police and prisoners, defending\u00a0human rights, educating prisoners, and preventing the spread of AIDS in Rio’s state-run prisons. His work in the prisons\u00a0and his subsequent work to halt the spread of vigilante police militias<\/a> in Rio led him to form the character basis for\u00a0the hero in Brazil’s biggest-ever box office hit\u00a0Elite Squad: The Enemy Within<\/a>. Freixo\u00a0went on to formally work in\u00a0the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly (Alerj) as assistant to then-deputy Chico Alencar in 1999\u00a0as coordinator\u00a0of Alerj’s Human Rights Commission<\/a>. Freixo then ran for office and was elected state deputy in\u00a02006 with the most\u00a0votes of his party, and was\u00a0re-elected twice in the 2010 and 2014 elections. In 2014 he was Brazil’s most-voted state deputy.<\/p>\n

His best known achievements have been leading the 2008 parliamentary inquiry (PCI)<\/a>\u00a0into the links between Rio\u2019s government and the militia, and a 2011 investigation into arms trafficking in the state, along with his long stint as head of the Rio de Janeiro State Assembly’s Human Rights Commission (since 2009). His dedication\u00a0to and association with these sensitive\u00a0human rights topics<\/a>\u00a0have imposed on his personal life on multiple occasions: Freixo was forced to leave Brazil<\/a> for short periods due to threats on his own life.<\/p>\n

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

Datafolha\u2019s latest analysis<\/a>\u00a0of voters shows Freixo most\u00a0popular among the city\u2019s youth, with citizens who have generally higher levels of education, and with households that have a higher monthly income. This may be explained by data showing<\/a> that evangelical Christians, Crivella’s stronghold, are among those with lower levels of education and wealth. Freixo’s campaign has been\u00a0funded exclusively by small donations<\/a>, and attracted support from\u00a0cultural figures such as Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso<\/a>, and Paulinho da Viola<\/a>. He is highly critical of Olympic investments in the city<\/a>. Freixo\u00a0has signed onto the civil society platform #Rio2017<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Freixo and PSOL have worked\u00a0to guarantee\u00a0their engagement with the city\u2019s wider demographics, holding large regular rallies citywide<\/a>, focused on a range of themes like promoting inter-religious dialogue<\/a> and the strengthening of women’s voices<\/a>, as well as holding\u00a0daily<\/a>\u00a0meetings in North Zone neighborhoods like\u00a0Madureira<\/a>, and West Zone neighborhoods like Sepetiba and Guaratiba<\/a>. Over the past two years they\u00a0held a large 18-month public consultation process with some 5000 participants across\u00a070\u00a0locations, including favelas<\/a>,\u00a0called “If The City Were Ours<\/a>.” Freixo’s mayoral platform<\/a>, as well as many\u00a0other PSOL policies,\u00a0are largely informed by this process, combined with consultation with top technical experts<\/a>\u00a0even\u00a0well beyond the PSOL<\/a>. Freixo has expressed his commitment<\/a> to break with traditional Brazilian politicking<\/a> by appointing the best technical experts, regardless of party, to manage the city. The PSOL’s federal deputies are routinely<\/a> recognized by journalists covering Bras\u00edlia as the nation’s cleanest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Without entering deeply\u00a0into the resulting 70-page policy platform<\/a> Freixo’s team has compiled, below we describe a few key proposals:<\/p>\n

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

Policy proposals<\/h3>\n

Public healthcare<\/a>\u00a0is a topic of concern for Rio residents\u00a0as recent budget shortfalls have left the sector in limbo, and reports during the Olympics found a stark disparity<\/a>\u00a0in the standard of care available in public and private hospitals. Freixo proposes<\/a> reforming the municipal health system to eliminate the private\u00a0organization (OS) that currently manages the city\u2019s emergency care units, strengthening health workers’ rights and input into health policy, increasing access to medications through the public health system, and strengthening community clinics, access to doctors and mental health, with an emphasis on the underserved North and West Zones.<\/p>\n

Freixo\u2019s sanitation and environmental plans<\/a> focus on reducing polluting gases while promoting clean renewable energy, implementing a Zero Waste policy focusing on waste\u00a0reduction and recycling,\u00a0cleaning the city’s water bodies including its bays, and planting trees in the city’s underserved North and West Zones<\/a>. To administer sanitation improvements he will create\u00a0both a public company and a Municipal Secretariat for Environmental Sanitation; and will team\u00a0municipal waste management utility\u00a0Comlurb<\/a>\u00a0up with municipal department Rio \u00c1guas\u00a0to work with the city\u2019s existing environmental and sanitation bodies.<\/p>\n

Transport proposals<\/a>\u00a0include reviewing recent\u00a0controversial and exclusionary changes to Rio’s bus lines<\/a>, audit the city’s bus line concessions,\u00a0reduce fares, expand the city’s cycle lanes with bicycle stations at all metros and BRT stops, and implement some zero tariff bus lines in\u00a0poorer areas of the city.<\/p>\n

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

As an educator himself, Freixo often focuses on the improvements he’ll make to education once elected as his primary rallying cry. His education proposals<\/a>\u00a0center around empowering teachers and educators–which he takes to include anyone working in a public school and interacting with students–by improving working conditions<\/a>, including stronger career possibilities and salaries, and guaranteeing them greater control over curriculum. Sport, art and culture will be integrated into the curriculum, and parents’ roles in their local schools will be strengthened according to Freixo. He also plans to increase the number of day care centers citywide and expand special education, and guarantee pesticide-free meals.<\/p>\n

Public security<\/a> is a key concern for Rio residents, with the number of violent incidents increasing<\/a> in the post-Olympic city. \u201cIf we are elected, we will keep talking about security,\u201d Freixo promised the crowd on October 12. He has emphasized growing participation in debates about public security as key to his leadership on the issue. \u201cEspecially for those of you who live in the periphery\u2013because a government that guarantees rights is a government that guarantees freedom.\u201d Although security\u00a0is a responsibility of the state, and not the municipal government, proposals to improve security<\/a> are\u00a0among Freixo’s focus. He emphasizes the need for top-notch data collection<\/a> around crime across the city and tailored responses based on neighborhood dynamics. Further\u00a0proposals include<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0establishment of mediation centers to help resolve urban conflicts in each of\u00a0the city’s administrative regions, and encouraging sports, arts and leisure initiatives to formally occupy public spaces<\/a>\u00a0which lead to busier and thus safer streets<\/a>. More street lighting and bringing\u00a0down certain fences around public spaces are also proposed, and a new operational plan for Rio\u2019s Municipal Guard<\/a> is also projected.<\/p>\n

With regard to housing, Freixo proposes<\/a> creating new public housing to benefit the poorest of city residents, who live on up to three minimum wages per month; to repurpose\u00a0abandoned public buildings for public housing; apply federal law to reduce the number of underutilized private buildings in the city and thus reduce rents overall; invest in public infrastructure and services in the underserved regions of the city where public housing has been built in recent years; and target public housing programs towards central areas of the city such as the Port.<\/p>\n

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

Proposals for favelas<\/h3>\n

Specifically with regard to the city’s favelas, Freixo\u00a0promises\u00a0to end\u00a0forced evictions<\/a> and promote land tenure<\/a>, investing in quality municipal services especially in the North and West Zone favelas, as well as fighting\u00a0gentrification<\/a> and promoting only moderate densification through a redirected Urbanistic and Social Orientation Posts (POUSOs)<\/a> program. He plans to\u00a0implement improved waste collection and street cleaning operations. Favelas would be encouraged to create and promote bed-and-breakfast style accommodation, helping such areas benefit from the economic impact of tourism<\/a> in the same way as other parts of Rio. Additionally, several of Freixo\u2019s other proposals to develop the entire city would begin with favelas and lower-income areas, such as affirmative action workplace policies and access to free high-speed Internet.<\/p>\n

The third and final mayoral debate will take place on TV Globo this Friday night, October 28, starting 10:30pm. The civil society network Meu Rio will be doing live fact checking<\/a>. The election will take place this Sunday, October 30.<\/h4>\n

Read our profile of Marcelo Crivella here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n

For videos of this year’s prior debates between Freixo and Crivella, click here<\/a> or watch below:<\/h4>\n