{"id":34035,"date":"2016-11-18T10:54:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T13:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=34035"},"modified":"2023-08-23T12:20:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T15:20:49","slug":"sign-hortos-petition-to-remain-in-their-historic-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=34035","title":{"rendered":"SIGN Horto’s Petition to Remain in their Historic Community [ACTION]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Horto<\/a> is a favela community in the South Zone<\/a> of Rio de Janeiro that has existed for over 200 years<\/a>. The community, which was founded by former Botanical Gardens workers who were given permission to build homes on the land, including slaves in the Botanical Gardens’\u00a0early years, has been under threat of eviction since the 1960s<\/a>. This most recent effort by the federal government to remove Horto began after President Michel Temer took office following the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. Under the\u00a0pervious administration, Horto and the government had agreed to a\u00a0land regularization plan<\/a> that would have allowed residents to remain and normalized their legal rights to their homes. This eviction, following a court decision in August<\/a>, has thus come as a huge shock, particularly given no compensation is being given. Lawyers are using Brazilian housing rights laws<\/a> to defend the community, but demolitions have begun. O<\/em>ne family was\u00a0forcibly removed<\/a> by Military Police on November 7<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The community is organizing and resisting eviction<\/a> with regular protests<\/a>, meetings<\/a> and social media presence<\/a>. They are calling on\u00a0all those who support their struggle, in Rio and around the world, for support. As part of their\u00a0resistance<\/a>\u00a0they have recently launched a petition outlining their history, case and treatment and affirming their right to remain. Please read their open letter, translated below, and sign the petition<\/a> to show essential support for this historic community in the face of increasing pressures and rights violations:<\/em><\/p>\n

Open letter from the community of Horto in Rio de Janeiro<\/h3>\n

The first inhabitants of Horto Florestal in the Jardim Bot\u00e2nico neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro were African slaves brought to cultivate sugarcane and coffee beginning in 1578. Free workers joined them for the construction of the gunpowder factory and the Botanical Gardens, founded by Dom Jo\u00e3o VI in 1808. The descendants of these slaves and workers make up the nucleus\u00a0of our community, which today includes some 600 families.<\/p>\n

Far from the city center at the time, without transportation or services, the Administration of the Botanical Gardens\u00a0offered them plots of land close to their work and permission\u00a0for them to build houses on that land, where they and their descendants would live in peace with their families for decades. They were present for and participated in the history of Rio de Janeiro,\u00a0and of Brazil: President\u00a0Get\u00falio Vargas<\/a> visited Horto on Tree Festival\u00a0day; President\u00a0Juscelino Kubitschek<\/a> inaugurated, along with his mother Julia, a school named in her honor for the neighborhood\u2019s children to attend. Many residents worked to establish the Tijuca Forest<\/a>, and were the driving force to preserve the Botanical Gardens\u00a0as the true jewel of our city that it remains until today.<\/p>\n

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

In practically\u00a0any free country in the world, having lived in a place for so many years, even without so many other historical, social, moral and ethical considerations, would be sufficient to assure that residents have full ownership of their homes. But as Rio grew, Horto became part of the South Zone, the most sought after part\u00a0of the city and the surrounding\u00a0Jardim Bot\u00e2nico neighborhood became a significant factor in increasing the area\u2019s value. During the military dictatorship<\/a>\u00a0attempts began to remove residents from the area, which had come to be desired by the rich and the biggest communications network<\/a> in the country, Globo<\/a>, which installed there in 1965 and\u00a0is today the biggest owner of property in the area.<\/p>\n

But fortunately for the Brazilian people, in recent\u00a0years the political environment and legal institutions have changed. Based on principles in the 1988 Constitution<\/a>, two years ago, the Federal Heritage Secretariat (SPU) began serious work, accompanied by the Urbanism Department\u00a0at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), envisioning land\u00a0regularization of the community that would reconcile all the factors\u2013ecological, social, and cultural-historical. Since then, those opposing this with powerful economic interests have reacted fiercely; their defiance has now reached its peak.<\/p>\n

For the media empire, which is willing to distort the news and twist the truth<\/a>, its easy to convince our fellow citizens that an \u201cinvasion of the Botanical Gardens\u201d is in progress, that it is being made into a \u201cfavela,\u201d and turn general public opinion against us, well intentioned defenders of the environment. The constant target of injurious attacks, of open offenses and dirty\u00a0lies, we don\u2019t have the financial resources that would enable our defense, and the few honest voices in the media and in Congress that stand up in defense of the truth and of our rights are immediately muffled and vilified.<\/p>\n

Recently, it was alleged that the registry of the Botanical Gardens by the Institute of National Artistic and Historic Heritage (IPHAN) in 1938, and of the architectural set of Horto in 1973, \u201cwould include\u201d its neighborhood, then already occupied by the community. An unprecedented\u00a0fact: the area was registered as heritage not to preserve it in the state it was found, with the\u00a0historical and artistic interest that would have to justify that measure, but to modify it in the distant future, in accordance with projects that didn\u2019t exist at the time. Incredibly, based on this ridiculous argument the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) was determined to interrupt the SPU\u2019s procedures: a TCU judge, at absolute odds with the dignity that should be associated with his position, publicly compared us to \u201ctramps invading Nossa Senhora de Paz Square [in Ipanema]\u201d with great fuss in the media.<\/p>\n

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

There is no invasion of the Botanical Gardens.\u00a0We would be the first to defend against this. Under this pretext and a fictitious need to expand, they intend to effect an \u201cethnic and social cleansing\u201d of the neighborhood to meet the unhidden but unconfessable interests: to destroy an entire community and erase it from history so as to \u201cimprove\u201d the neighborhood. To authorities at all levels, to the three branches of Brazilian democracy, we denounce this cowardly, insidious, and vile attack\u00a0on history, the truth, justice, and on the social and human rights<\/a> of hundreds of Brazilian citizens.<\/p>\n

To our fellow citizens of Rio de Janeiro, of the rest of Brazil, and of the whole world, we ask: don\u2019t let yourselves be carried away by the force of money! Don\u2019t be fooled, don\u2019t be turned\u00a0en masse<\/em> by the maneuvers of the\u00a0enemies of the people to serve their interests! If you can, come here and see the truth with your own eyes: that beyond the pages of the newspaper and your television screen there is no invasion of the Botanical Gardens. Get to know our neighborhood up close, the children that play and the elderly born here. It\u2019s a beautiful place\u00a0and you are very welcome.<\/p>\n

The petition<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The history of a people is their trademark! With this we would like to present this petition that shows the Brazilian people\u00a0what is happening to the residents of Horto Florestal. The community\u00a0is made up of around 620 families, a large majority descendants of past employees of the Botanical Gardens\u00a0who gave their lives for this Brazilian heritage, and others are current employees. Simple and humble people who live in the area next to the Botanical Gardens, known as Horto Florestal. We would like to share our history<\/a> and how we are being treated by a prejudiced elite, media, and speculative forces that want to preserve nothing and only make money. I ask that you read and support us in this fight that has left many of our elderly dead<\/a> or hospitalized<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sign the petition here<\/a>.<\/h2>\n

You can also write the Botanical Gardens with your concern at\u00a0jbrj@jbrj.gov.br<\/a>. The Gardens depend on international visitors. Your voice is important.<\/h3>\n

Read\u00a0our other recent\u00a0coverage of Horto here:<\/h3>\n

November 9, 2016 Violent Forced Eviction and Protest in Horto as First Family Removed<\/a>
\nOctober 21, 2016 Bicentennial Horto Favela Doubles Down Resistance to Eviction as One Family Receives Notice<\/a>
\nSeptember 20, 2016 Horto Protests 90-Day Eviction Notice and Assault from Media Giant Globo<\/a>
\nAugust 17, 2016 Horto Receives 90-Day Eviction Notice, Just as Housing Groups Hoped for Post-Olympic Calm<\/a>
\nJuly 1, 2016 Horto: History with Roots<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Horto is a favela community in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro that has existed for over 200 years. The community, which was founded by former Botanical Gardens workers who […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":28093,"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":[1293,1267,1854,1288,1290,2242,1503,336,1329],"tags":[756,11,390,188,884,282,26,2371,894,918,1292,518,10,270,156],"writer":[2157],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-gentrificationwatch","9":"category-housingwatch","10":"category-highlight","11":"category-civilsociety","12":"category-democracy","13":"category-opportunities-to-support-favelas","14":"category-violations","15":"category-by-international-observers","16":"tag-community-organizing","17":"tag-forced-evictions","18":"tag-globo","19":"tag-history","20":"tag-horto","21":"tag-housing","22":"tag-housing-rights","23":"tag-iphan","24":"tag-jardim-botanico","25":"tag-military-police","26":"tag-organizing","27":"tag-organizing-tactics","28":"tag-real-estate-speculation","29":"tag-resistance","30":"tag-south-zone","31":"writer-laura-bachmann"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34035","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\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34035"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=34035"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=34035"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=34035"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=34035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}