{"id":36197,"date":"2017-04-27T15:15:17","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T18:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=36197"},"modified":"2017-12-12T11:24:58","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T14:24:58","slug":"its-absurd-cable-car-stations-will-become-police-bases-transcription","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=36197","title":{"rendered":"It’s Absurd! Cable Car Stations Will Become Police Bases? [TRANSCRIPTION]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The text below is a transcription of Raull Santiago’s<\/a>\u00a0live broadcast on Facebook<\/a> on March 29, 2017 at 12:15pm. Santiago was featured in The New York Times Magazine in 2015<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Good afternoon everyone, I am starting this live video<\/a> to share some information, something urgent that we just found out here in\u00a0Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>. The cable cars<\/a>\u00a0in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o will possibly be converted to UPP<\/a>\u00a0police bases. This type of situation is unacceptable. The police came in 2010 as a solution to violence and has ended up\u00a0aggravating even more the reality of the people here, now with the collapse of the state, with the collapse of the country especially within the poorest areas, and the closing of the project that was showcased around\u00a0the entire world\u2014the cable car in Alem\u00e3o, which has been closed for about one year now<\/a>\u2014we find out that these spaces may become bases for the UPP<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

You know what is bizarre? When some people got together to try and occupy empty lots where homes had\u00a0existed before, the state removed those people from those lots, didn\u2019t guarantee them homes, and when they tried to reoccupy this space in the Poesia area, the government ordered the police to forcibly remove everyone. At the same time, all the cable car stations, with various rooms and excellent infrastructure, were empty. <\/span><\/p>\n

Several social projects here in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, incredible and wonderful ones like Mariluce Mari\u00e1<\/a> that works with kids and also Papo Reto<\/a> itself, and a series of other projects, don\u2019t have headquarters. They don\u2019t have a base to work from. They have to depend on the help of people who have rooftop<\/a> balconies, they have to do their jobs on the streets being very alert to shootouts. In the midst of this, these cable car rooms are closed and empty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, everyone that works there, including security guards who are from here and work\u00a0at the cable car stations, have received a notice of their job termination. The people are going to be unemployed. Why? Because the cable car, built with our public money that was supposed to change the reality of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, to incentivize tourism, and to reduce violence\u2026 The cable car that was\u00a0created for mobility and\u00a0didn\u2019t live up to this\u00a0intended role, and has now been closed for more than a year, will now turn into a military base. That is, the only public policy<\/a>\u00a0we can count on to always be present in\u00a0Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, is the police. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

The government, the state, is only looking at\u00a0favelas and observing us through the lens of the police. This has become increasingly serious. It is absurd what is happening. It is an extreme situation. Society can\u2019t ignore this militarization of everyday life. This non-appreciation of public money. The millionaire investment with various schemes and this giant corruption<\/a> that will become just another Military Police<\/a> base so dubious, so corrupt<\/a>,\u00a0so violent<\/a>, and so problematic. <\/span><\/p>\n

We cannot shut up in the face of this situation, we have to organize ourselves,\u00a0mobilize on several fronts, why not! The UPP already has its bases<\/a> constructed in partnership with the excellent Eike Batista<\/a>. The UPP is at the top of Alvorada invading and expelling residents from their homes<\/a>. The UPP is an absurdity, ripping out shipping containers, those armored shipping containers, and throwing them within favelas and now they\u2019re taking over the cable cars. And amazingly, this was an agreement that was already underway. In the cable car station in Palmeiras for example, there was a Family Clinic<\/a>, there was a library, and the police was beginning to invade and exchange gunshots in there. The police would invade the cable car stations, open fire in there, and made that place become a target. And in fear, the library closed. Afraid, the Family Clinic closed down<\/a>. With fear, every cultural and health program that existed in there was stifled. The police were already occupying that space. <\/span><\/p>\n

The same thing\u2026in Alem\u00e3o\u2019s cable car station in Central\u2026All of the services, everything that was actually proving\u00a0useful for the people of the favela, which was for the use of the people, for the public, left. Because the police invades to shoot from the top of the cable cars and transforms it into a war base\u2026And it brings violence to these places, that were places of\u00a0another form of resistance<\/a>–with culture<\/a>, with art<\/a>, with services and various things. And in Alem\u00e3o, it has been years that the police use the base of the cable cars for their police trainings, as dormitories, as various things for their internal corporation. <\/span><\/p>\n

So it’s not news, unfortunately, that soon–everyone was already predicting it\u2014that this was going to become another stage of the militarization of everyday life. I\u2019m sorry to tell everyone who believes that this is the way forward, (but) it is not. This is only going to create more violence, more trouble. This police is problematic. We do not discuss harm\u00a0reduction. We do not discuss drug\u00a0policy. We do not discuss the reduction of\u00a0social inequality<\/a>. We do not discuss racism<\/a>, we don\u2019t discuss human rights that we don\u2019t have. It\u2019s really fighting for our rights, and none of these things are being discussed. Only in the name of the\u00a0War on Drugs<\/a> do you send army tanks, send the police, invade homes, and create a bizarre situation here in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o.<\/span><\/p>\n

This video<\/a> is a cry for\u00a0help, it\u2019s to let off steam. The situation is very complicated, even for those involved with social movements, even for activists, even for anyone. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is really difficult to resist in the middle of the current situation of\u00a0this city. And not resisting is a problem because people will lean more and more towards revolt, towards hate, and it will be much more difficult to build something different from our current situation. We desperately need to rescue our network of affection. A network of respect. A network of valuing life. A network of valuing people. We need to unite, mainly the favelas. The favelas have to find a way. Especially those who are favela activists engaged in independent\u00a0communications, we have to find a way, despite the difficulties of meeting up, to unite and build together. Only last week, in different favelas, a ton of youth were killed. Many young people were falsely incriminated, sold as traffickers. The media dictated\u00a0the story and everything passed (for truth). Every day we die several times. Our body is killed by bullets, our image is forged and linked to crime<\/a>. The entire structure of our family dies when our image is multiplied by the world as problematic<\/a>. Once our identities are forged, the media helps sell this, and makes\u00a0this idea widely accepted<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Bullet capsules were left on the streets of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o after a confrontation in February 2017 (Photo: Betinho Casas Novas of Voz das Comunidades<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So we have to unite\u2026with the whole society, because those who are dying are in favelas, those who are taking bullets, those who are having their daily lives militarized, those whose children aren\u2019t going to school<\/a>, those who aren\u2019t able to be on the streets<\/a>. Everyone is held hostage by the war on drugs that for years\u2014during my 28 years\u2014the police conduct shootouts, confrontation, problems, people die, an absurd spending of public money, and nothing is solved. Why? Because it\u2019s wrong, it\u2019s not a war on drugs, it\u2019s a war on the poor, a war on Black<\/a> people, it\u2019s an imprisonment of poor bodies and the execution<\/a> of poor bodies that are primarily Black. So we have to get into the debate. <\/span><\/p>\n

We have to pull from the energy that we have left and the few left alive and unite ourselves to build something different from this. And try as hard as we can to bring society to recognize the reality and gravity of what is happening within favelas. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is unacceptable that such an expensive project, a project that was sold to the whole world, a project that was built with your money, my money, with an intention of change, was only talk. The reality was only the\u00a0militarization of poor spaces, the reality was only the control\u00a0of the people. It was another way of increasing inequality from the control\u00a0of poverty in an armed and violent way. That is very wrong. We need to discuss this. We need to unite. We can\u2019t accept that the cable cars turn into a police base. In front of each cable car station is already a police base. <\/span><\/p>\n

Those cute cable car structures created in partnership with Eike Batista\u2019s corporations, so pretty right? Wasn\u2019t it cool\u00a0in 2010? Didn\u2019t everyone hug? Didn\u2019t we applaud those new moments in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o?<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s a shame (policy)\u00a0was limited only to\u00a0those periods, during\u00a0those applauses. Too bad it remained\u00a0just a discourse, because the reality that spoke about various public policies that would come to the favela culminated only in policing. The police that was always the problem, changed only its discourse and said \u201cnow the police is one of proximity, it\u2019s cool, it\u2019s good, and it will stay in there.\u201d None of this (happened), no one believed it,\u00a0and the proof, unfortunately, is here today: the failure of all this public security<\/a> that never involved us. When they say \u201cpublic security\u201d they’re only talking about from the entrance of the favela outwards,\u00a0and we are sold as the problem<\/a>. This is wrong.\u00a0This needs to change<\/a>. The favela is a\u00a0solution<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today whoever was watching the Globo TV<\/a>\u00a0show with F\u00e1tima Bernades, saw Luiz, the incredible male ballet dancer, (who was) wonderful. In the middle of such a problematic space like this, within a project called Vidan\u00e7ar<\/a>, (Luiz, a resident of Alem\u00e3o) was accepted into the Bolshoi Ballet School in Joinville<\/a>. In the midst of this (police occupation) there are so many amazing things happening here. There are incredible people. There are incredible projects. There is entrepreneurship<\/a> of all kinds. There is resistance of culture, of art, of various forms. But all of this is silenced when we are seen from outside in, seeing us as dangerous and thinking that the only public policy that the favela deserves is the police. Enough is\u00a0enough! <\/span><\/p>\n

We need help from whoever is up for it, and\u00a0this help needs to be way\u00a0beyond social media. We need to think how! Our work, on social media, wherever our voices reach, wherever we can strengthen and compete in this city, dispute these problems and claim our rights. Not only for favelas, but for everyone. Don\u2019t be deceived that when things are bad for the favela, it won\u2019t go down to the asphalt (formal city). Don\u2019t be deceived that the problems of the asphalt aren\u2019t related to the non-valorization of\u00a0life inside the favela, and that those problems don’t have consequences for\u00a0the guarantee of rights in here. <\/span><\/p>\n

We need to open our eyes and understand that the system has failed. That all of this is wrong and that there are people bleeding, dying for, and also profiting from these deaths. We need to stop this. We are only going to move forward with investment in the arts, culture\u2026We will rescue the image \u00a0of our country in the world if we guarantee the life of the people here at the base, the life of the poor who are the ones dying, those that are suffering, living all the possible outrages, so that a minority live at\u00a0the top\u2026while social inequality makes our blood pour out. <\/span><\/p>\n

It’s increasingly difficult to see a light at the end of the tunnel while living in\u00a0this situation<\/a>. We need help, we need everyone. We need help people! Watching the cable cars become a police base here at Alvorada?! Whoever is following Papo Reto<\/a>, whoever is following the Public Defenders Office<\/a>, knows that police have invaded more than 10 houses, kicked people out, elderly people, houses full of children<\/a>. Officers invaded these places to transform them into military bases, shoot from above the houses and turn these houses into targets. It is all wrong. There\u2019s not the slightest strategy that is advancing amidst this failed war on drugs.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have to discuss other forms, we have to refrain from this deceptive line of war on drugs as a solution for something. Quite the opposite, this is what sustains the problem. This is what favors the arms companies<\/a>, what favors the Security Secretariat, what favors war-profiteers who profit from blood<\/a>. We need to stop this trend. War on Drugs is nothing, we are going to discuss the politics of drugs, we will discuss ours rights, we will discuss racism, we will discuss the reduction of social inequality, we will discuss whatever as long as it is different\u00a0from this logic of war and militarization of popular spaces, militarization of the favela, militarization of the daily life of the poor. <\/span><\/p>\n

We need help from you, we need to prevent the problems that escalate to\u00a0levels where we will no longer be able to contain them. The situation that is happening, already is a war, and this name isn\u2019t accepted out there, but it is a war. Here, as many or more people die than in Syria<\/a>, in Palestine. We are at war, Rio de Janeiro executes the poor every day. We have\u2026a\u00a0government\u2019s war against the poor<\/a>, a war of who has a lot of money and does not want to lose the benefits so they increase social inequality that breeds blood within favelas and peripheries of the whole country. <\/span><\/p>\n

We need to restructure, based on our right to life, the appreciation of people that are here at the base, mainly working to put an end to racism and\u2026prejudice and for that we have to understand, respect, listen to the people here within the favelas screaming these atrocities that are happening, exposing the violations of the state itself. We need to be together, we need to find a way because the path that we are traveling now has the tendency to worsen. The tendency to turn to violence that is already at an absurd level<\/a> will become even greater. And it will not work, it\u2019s not working. We need to be together. We need to find a way and bring everyone who wants to join in to build, beyond social media, a path of truth that makes this change possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

I made this live video<\/a>, I said it all venting, my bad, but it\u2019s because the situation is absurd. We are dying every day. We are being forged every day. They kill our bodies, stain our images, destroy our families, and we can’t take it any more. We must end this violent scenario, based on our right to life, based on discussing drug policies, racism, social inequality. The guarantees of our rights need to move forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

The war on drugs is only bringing more violence. The war on drugs is the fuel of\u00a0evil. We need to end this. No to the militarization of the cable car stations. If the state is going to have control over the cable cars, it should be to make them work again. Even if they weren’t so useful to us locals, that was the\u00a0initial purpose. Let\u2019s democratize access to those rooms for the\u00a0homeless, for social projects that don\u2019t have a work space. Let\u2019s make change with art, culture, and appreciation of people. No to the military occupation of the cable cars in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o. We are together. <\/span>\u00c9 n\u00f3s!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Brother, don\u2019t share just this\u00a0video. Get your tools to fight, get all the contacts you have here in the community, Voz da Comunidade<\/a><\/em>, Mariluce Mari\u00e1<\/a>, Ra\u00edzes em Movimento<\/a>, EDUCAP<\/a>, whoever is your partner, Ocupa Alem\u00e3o<\/a>, who is your partner here, look for your partners. Let’s see how we can provide support (to each other), let’s together resist\u00a0this absurdity that is happening here in the favela and in so many other Rio favelas. Look for the contacts that you all have, let\u2019s exchange ideas, let\u2019s think. Let\u2019s think together how we can get out of this absurd situation that is happening here. <\/span>\u00c9 n\u00f3s!<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

Thank you to Juliana Ritter for the transcription and translation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas The text below is a transcription of Raull Santiago’s\u00a0live broadcast on Facebook on March 29, 2017 at 12:15pm. Santiago was featured in The New York Times Magazine in 2015. Good afternoon […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":36199,"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":[2315,1277,1288,1328,1290,1271,335,336],"tags":[150,1606,32,1396,918,37,1781,15,2471,17,16,638,809,270,1011,268,453,2473,2422],"writer":[994],"translator":[2406],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-legacywatch","8":"category-uppwatch","9":"category-highlight","10":"category-by-community-contributors","11":"category-civilsociety","12":"category-favelaqualities","13":"category-policies","14":"category-violations","15":"tag-cable-car","16":"tag-coletivo-papo-reto","17":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","18":"tag-criminalization-of-poverty","19":"tag-military-police","20":"tag-north-zone","21":"tag-opinion-2","22":"tag-pacifying-police-unit","23":"tag-palestine","24":"tag-police-brutality","25":"tag-police-corruption","26":"tag-police-occupation","27":"tag-public-security","28":"tag-resistance","29":"tag-right-to-come-and-go","30":"tag-state-violence","31":"tag-stigma","32":"tag-syria","33":"tag-school-closings","34":"writer-raull-santiago","35":"translator-juliana-ritter"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36197","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\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36197"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=36197"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=36197"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=36197"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=36197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}