{"id":35336,"date":"2017-03-24T16:15:28","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T19:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=35336"},"modified":"2017-05-21T11:02:33","modified_gmt":"2017-05-21T14:02:33","slug":"vila-autodromo-is-realizing-its-vocation-as-a-model-for-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=35336","title":{"rendered":"Vila Aut\u00f3dromo Is Realizing Its Vocation as a Model for Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

On Tuesday, March 14, RioOnWatch<\/em>\u00a0visited\u00a0Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, the community that became internationally known during\u00a0its determined fight against evictions due to its proximity to the\u00a0Rio 2016 Olympic Park. Those residents who fought to the end and were ultimately allowed to settle in\u00a0the newly built replacement housing on site are\u00a0now well-organized and ready to receive–and inspire–visitors.<\/h4>\n

After years of community struggle against evictions<\/a>, one broad asphalt road with government-built identical white homes\u00a0housing\u00a020 families<\/a>\u00a0is all that’s\u00a0left on the land once occupied by the vibrant community of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>, originally with 700 families.<\/p>\n

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

The first house on the\u00a0street, now called Rua Vila Aut\u00f3dromo (Vila Aut\u00f3dromo Street),\u00a0is home to Sueli, who immediately reported\u00a0that the evictions have impacted her financially, as well as socially: “I used to live in a house twice as big, which also functioned as my restaurant and catering service.” With resilient spirit, she and her neighbors are each tailoring their identical government-issued units to meet their particular needs and tastes. The front of her home will\u00a0serve as a new restaurant.<\/p>\n

Sandra Maria<\/a>, resident and activist, leads a\u00a0group through the street, pointing out the poor\u00a0construction quality by the government: “we hoped that once we had paved streets, we wouldn’t\u00a0have puddles of rainwater,” which serve as breeding grounds for mosquitos, only increasing infection risks.<\/p>\n

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

While pointing towards the unused gravel parking lot surrounding\u00a0Rua Vila Aut\u00f3dromo,\u00a0where homes were removed\u00a0to ‘make place’ for the Olympic Park<\/a>, Sandra explains that the abandoned area “illustrates the governmental mechanism of evicting residents\u00a0and then abandoning places, ultimately transferring\u00a0areas for capital development.” One of the claims historically made by the City for evicting residents from the community is rooted in environmental discourse, yet\u00a0“trees were the first things to be cut down<\/a> during the evictions.” The City had effectively converted a tree-filled community into an abandoned car park.<\/p>\n

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

As a result, one of the\u00a0community’s primary current efforts is to\u00a0reforest Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>. Sandra explains that once\u00a0the Olympics came\u00a0“everything was a concrete jungle: paved streets and a few white houses.” As a result community members have worked hard to plant trees and have opened a small\u00a0playground in the gravel lot.<\/p>\n

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

Preserving Memories<\/h3>\n

After visiting the homes and turning the one corner on the street, we arrived at\u00a0S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 Oper\u00e1rio Catholic Church, an original building allowed to remain, thanks\u00a0to\u00a0community efforts. Since the church was an established structure next to the street that was rebuilt with residences, it would not be difficult to maintain. This, along with the two fresco murals, recently painted thanks to an initiative\u00a0by Brazil’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), helped strengthen the residents’ case to maintain the church.<\/p>\n

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

The church played a crucial role in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s resistance movement\u00a0and continues to do so today, providing remaining residents with a reference point tying the land back\u00a0to the original site. The church, built by residents, always kept\u00a0its doors open, standing firm during evictions and\u00a0hosting\u00a0community meetings and even providing temporary shelter for community activist\u00a0Maria da Penha, known as “Penha,” when she was removed<\/a> from her home due to the eminent domain decree, but nonetheless refused to\u00a0take compensation.<\/p>\n

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

According to Penha, the church continues allowing them to host groups including\u00a0universities<\/a>, activists, journalists, and NGOs\u00a0who come to learn from community members about their resistance efforts.<\/p>\n

These resistance efforts convalesced into the launch of the Evictions Museum<\/a> last May. The Evictions Museum has become Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s primary post-Olympics organizing tool. Though the entire original community’s land is contemplated in the open-air museum<\/a>, it also includes numerous archives storing the memory of the community in various forms. Currently, Penha’s house has been converted into a temporary exhibition space\u00a0with photographic exhibitions and materials.<\/p>\n

Model in a Global\u00a0Fight<\/h3>\n

Those twenty families who successfully withstood the trials and tribulations of the pre-Olympic evictions process believe they are now safe from future threats. They continue emphasizing that the area was decreed an\u00a0Area of Special Social Interest for Housing<\/a>\u00a0under\u00a0Municipal Law 74\/2005<\/a>,\u00a0and that they’ve received\u00a099-year\u00a0leases<\/a>\u00a0from the State government.\u00a0However, the City government has not yet provided the formal promised papers recognizing their ownership of the new homes. Nor has the City completed the remaining infrastructure<\/a> promised to the community.<\/p>\n

\"ResistanceThat said, most emphasized by Penha and Sandra is the global nature of their struggle<\/a>, and their availability to support activists elsewhere.\u00a0According to Penha, “it’s not finished… it’s an ongoing struggle worldwide and through global networking and using social media we can bring the story to others.”\u00a0Sandra was\u00a0invited to participate in the Habitat Conference in Ecuador<\/a>, while Penha has traveled with Amnesty International to\u00a0Washington and The United Nations in Switzerland<\/a>\u00a0to deliver testimonials.<\/p>\n

Using social media and their intimate knowledge of resistance strategies, and\u00a0with help from a network with other communities, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s remaining residents\u00a0seek to mobilize others: “we receive emails, videos and visits from communities all over the world… With our knowledge now we can help others… We are now sharing material with Tokyo where the next Olympics will be held,” Penha\u00a0explains.<\/p>\n

\"T-shirts<\/a> \"Sandra<\/a> \"Images<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On Tuesday, March 14, RioOnWatch\u00a0visited\u00a0Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, the community that became internationally known during\u00a0its determined fight against evictions due to its proximity to the\u00a0Rio 2016 Olympic Park. Those residents who fought to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":35609,"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":[1293,1736,1288,335,329,336,1329],"tags":[225,756,258,272,11,282,26,1259,5,270,471,4,21],"writer":[2382],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35336","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-1736","9":"category-highlight","10":"category-policies","11":"category-solutions","12":"category-violations","13":"category-by-international-observers","14":"tag-barra-da-tijuca","15":"tag-community-organizing","16":"tag-community-solution","17":"tag-mayor-eduardo-paes","18":"tag-forced-evictions","19":"tag-housing","20":"tag-housing-rights","21":"tag-mega-events","22":"tag-olympics","23":"tag-resistance","24":"tag-sustainability","25":"tag-vila-autodromo","26":"tag-west-zone","27":"writer-phie-van-rompu"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35336","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\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35336"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=35336"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=35336"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=35336"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=35336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}