{"id":36057,"date":"2017-04-18T08:14:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-18T11:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=36057"},"modified":"2020-08-07T14:03:33","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T17:03:33","slug":"the-poor-leave-the-rich-stay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=36057","title":{"rendered":"The Poor Leave, The Rich Stay"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

For the original article by Anne Vigna<\/a>\u00a0in Portuguese published in Ag\u00eancia P\u00fablica\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The law uses \u2018differentiated\u2019 treatment for mansion owners close to the Botanical Gardens\u2014among them, current Rio Secretary of Housing \u00cdndio da Costa<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

In comparison to the Canto and Mello Condominium, the houses of the Horto<\/a>\u00a0favela seem small and hidden in the middle of the forest. In the last decades, around the favela\u2014where the majority of residents make at most up to three times the minimum wage (about US$800\/month)\u2014private houses have emerged and grown in the federally-owned forest. They are not only different from the favela community in size and in value\u2014they also receive drastically\u00a0different treatment under the law.<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Built\u00a0in the 1980s, the Canto and Mello Condominium is partly located within the area of the Botanical Gardens<\/a>, above the 200 meter protection line<\/a>, which means it is within a\u00a0designated environmental protection area and risk zone<\/a> where construction is prohibited.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a long civil suit from the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office and the Municipality of Rio, the courts\u00a0prohibited the construction of more houses on the site. The technical report states that \u201cthe environmental damage provoked by the defendants was accentuated during the twenty-plus years of court proceedings, so that at the time the case was brought in 1991 there were only 8 houses, but by 2003 during investigations of the area, another 17 buildings had been\u00a0erected, and the twenty-sixth, already in breach of the judicial decision, was under construction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2012, the condominium was recognized by the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice (TJRJ) in exchange for a fine for environmental damages. The condominium administration appealed and the dispute is still being decided in the Federal Supreme Court; therefore, the exact amount has yet to be determined. The reasoning used to guarantee the condominium\u2019s permanence is no different from that used by the two thousand residents of the Horto favela\u00a0currently threatened with eviction<\/a>, where there are already 200 applications for land repossession granted by the courts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur case invoked the right to housing<\/a> in the Federal Constitution<\/a>, since this was public land,\u201d explained Felipe Amorim, the lawyer for the Canto and Mello Condominium. \u201cIt was their right to build the houses; thus, if the houses were demolished, these families would have had nowhere to live. This was one of the arguments used to convince the Court not to demolish the houses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canto and Mello Condominium is formed by a road that inclines abruptly. Moving up the hill, one understands the technical report\u2019s mention of a “45-degree incline and reaching the 200 meter\u00a0limit.” With a security post and guard at the gate, no uninvited guests can enter the site. Nevertheless, numerous vans and motorcycles climb the hill constantly to bring supplies and building materials to the top. Looking at the 26 houses (truthfully, mansions), one can imagine the size of the construction sites and their environmental impact. 75,000m2 of forest was razed to make room for the condominium\u2019s buildings, according to the judicial report. \u201cBut now it\u2019s green, it\u2019s preserved, and they take care of the environment,\u201d explains the condominium lawyer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
2009 article from the newspaper O Globo<\/em>, about the irregular situation of the Condominium Canto e Mello houses. On the left, the entrance to the condominium).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s true: the condominium is green and calm, with a view of the blue ocean. It sometimes seems that nature and the houses are one and the same. The lawyer assured journalists that the residents have taken action to ensure environmental conservation, but had not sent further details by the time this article\u00a0was published. In addition, P\u00fablica<\/em> was not permitted to enter the grounds.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact is\u00a0that the condominium is occupying\u00a0a\u00a0forest reserve\u2014and area of\u00a0risk. Because of this, the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice reasoned that, even though the condominiums constitute illegal constructions, destroying the houses would prove even worse for the environment: according to an expert, the demolition of these buildings would be \u201can extremely radical measure,\u201d because \u201cthe local biofragility would not support such interventions (demolitions, machine and truck movement, etc.).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For the inhabitants of Horto, a (hundreds-year-old<\/a>) favela community under serious threat of eviction<\/a>\u00a0ever since the management of their\u00a0territory was passed to the Botanical Gardens (read more here<\/a>), the differential treatment<\/a> of the condominium and the favela has called their attention. According to socioeconomic research from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FAU\/UFRJ), more than 60% of Horto residents make up to\u00a0three times the minimum wage (US$1000\/month), 20% make five times (US$1600) and about 3% make from five to eight times. <\/span><\/p>\n

On one side, housing rights of residents in the Canto and Mello Condominium were recognized to avoid the \u201cextremely radical measure\u201d of expulsion from the site. On the other, Minister Raimundo Carreiro of the Federal Court of Accounts\u00a0(TCU) preemptively affirmed that the residents of Horto should be \u201crelocated within the <\/span>Minha Casa Minha Vida<\/span><\/a> (My House My Life) housing program.\u201d Last November the TCU decided to take full control of the land where the favela is located, under the Botanical Gardens’<\/span> administration. In an interview with P\u00fablica<\/em>, the Garden\u2019s director S\u00e9rgio Besserman made it clear he wants the community off the land. <\/span><\/p>\n