{"id":40615,"date":"2017-12-05T10:59:35","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T13:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=40615"},"modified":"2017-12-08T11:28:54","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T14:28:54","slug":"we-are-stronger-together-threatened-favelas-launch-parliamentary-front-against-evictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=40615","title":{"rendered":"‘Stronger Together:’ Threatened Favelas Launch Parliamentary Front Against Evictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

On the night of November 30, community leaders from across Rio converged at the City Council to speak out against evictions. The evening\u2019s panel marked the launch of Rio\u2019s first \u201cParliamentary Front Against Removals and Evictions<\/a>,\u201d and featured activists representing the neighborhoods of Horto<\/a>, Barrinha<\/a>, Rio das Pedras<\/a>, Caet\u00e9s and Ara\u00e7atiba<\/a> in Rio\u2019s West Zone<\/a>, and Indiana<\/a>, R\u00e1dio Sonda<\/a>, and Maracaj\u00e1s<\/a> in the North Zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The event marked the first in a series of planned gatherings and marches<\/a>\u00a0against evictions, including occupation-style protests at Mayor Marcelo Crivella’s condominium on last Friday<\/a> and at key city government sites in the coming weeks. The protesters are demanding a more open channel of communication between the mayor’s office and threatened communities, since the administration’s previous promises to schedule meetings with community leaders have not been fulfilled.<\/p>\n

For many, the mayor has fallen short of his campaign slogan<\/a> to \u201ctake care of the people.\u201d \u201cThe only thing Crivella defends are his own interests,\u201d said Ara\u00e7atiba\u2019s Ana Frimerman. Ara\u00e7atiba, a small community located in the West Zone\u2019s Guaratiba<\/a> neighborhood, suffered its first bout of forced evictions two months ago. On October 3, Frimerman explained, \u201cthe City showed up and demolished three houses. That\u2019s three families left homeless.\u201d Recently, the City has threatened the community with fines over sewage in their surroundings, demanding R$15,000 (around US$5,000). \u201cIf none of Guaratiba has sewage treatment, why did they show up in its poorest area?\u201d Frimerman pointed out.<\/p>\n

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

Others from the West Zone raised similar concerns over the City\u2019s interests and its justifications for eviction. Barrinha\u2019s Jaqueline Andrade explained that the threat of removals facing her community<\/a> has had nothing to do with illegal invasion of the land<\/a> or precariousness of services. \u201cWe aren\u2019t located in a nature reserve. We have energy. We have water. The problem is that our community is located right next to Barra da Tijuca<\/a>, so we have all these construction and real estate companies<\/a> eyeing us… We\u2019re a poor community surrounded by a rich neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

For participants across the entire panel, it seemed, the City is interfering in neighborhoods it had ignored until now.<\/p>\n

Lorena Carvalho from Rio das Pedras explained that in her community\u2019s 54 year history, \u201cthe City had never paid attention.\u201d Families built their houses themselves, \u201cone neighbor helping out another<\/a>,\u201c she explained, but now the City \u201cwants to come in and stomp us out, destroy our history.\u201d Rio das Pedras, located in Rio\u2019s inner West Zone between the neighborhoods of Itanhang\u00e1, Jacarepagu\u00e1, and Anil, was one of the few favelas specifically mentioned in the City\u2019s Strategic Plan<\/a>. Until recently, Rio das Pedras was to be turned upside down as part of a proposed \u201cverticalization program\u201d to remove residents and relocate them<\/a> into yet-to-be-constructed towers in the same area, although community activists were concerned the tower apartments would be sold to new residents instead. Mayor Crivella has since backtracked in the face of widespread opposition<\/a>, but residents are unconvinced. \u201cHe just changed the name [of the program],\u201d said Carvalho. \u201cThey want to kick us out and sell [the land] to millionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others echoed the bond between home and history<\/a>. Ines Ferreira recounted that she had moved to the community of Indiana in 1974. She was 5 years old when she arrived, but the favela, located at the foot of the neighboring hillside favela of Borel<\/a> in Rio\u2019s North Zone, had existed since 1947. Her parents purchased a plot of land \u201cfull of spiders\u2026 scorpions\u201d and started a life there. Recently, however, the City has developed plans to demolish houses and relocate Indiana\u2019s residents further north to the neighborhood of Triagem<\/a>. Now, she explained, Indiana receives a constant stream of visits from the City, reminding residents that their homes may soon be torn down.<\/p>\n

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

The ceaseless threat of eviction is not unique to Indiana. Edivalma \u201cDi\u201d Sousa told the audience that R\u00e1dio Sonda and Maracaj\u00e1s have received eviction notifications every year since 1998. The two communities, both located on the edge of an Airforce base near Rio\u2019s International Airport, share 60 years and 100 years of existence, respectively. Despite such history, the military has ordered residents to leave<\/a>, \u201cdestroy their own homes, and not to leave a single scrap or rock behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

This recurrent abuse takes a massive\u00a0psychological toll<\/a> on favela residents across the city. Andrade reported depression spreading through Barrinha, and Ferreira rattled off a list of psychiatric medications her neighbors in Indiana have begun taking. Imagine seeing, she said, \u201cyour husband standing in the way of the tractor, protecting what he has built\u201d with his own hands. When an eviction happens, she explained, \u201cwe don\u2019t sleep, we don\u2019t eat\u2026 we don\u2019t feed our children right.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the face of escalating threats, and despite these challenges, the panel\u2019s participants remained determined to resist. Many lauded the help they had received from the Public Defender\u2019s Office<\/a>, from the Catholic Church\u2019s Pastoral das Favelas<\/a>, and from other threatened communities. The Parliamentary Front made it clear on Thursday evening that as they prepare to launch this month\u2019s series of protests, solidarity among the threatened communities would not be an issue. \u201cWe are stronger together,\u201d Andrade reminded the audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On the night of November 30, community leaders from across Rio converged at the City Council to speak out against evictions. The evening\u2019s panel marked the launch of Rio\u2019s first \u201cParliamentary […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":40643,"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":[1293,2555,1288,1333,336,1329],"tags":[2594,225,2574,804,2610,756,226,11,60,188,884,282,26,883,2548,2225,37,2553,10,270,1445,520,21],"writer":[2609],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-40615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-monitoringcrivella","9":"category-highlight","10":"category-event-reports","11":"category-violations","12":"category-by-international-observers","13":"tag-aracatiba","14":"tag-barra-da-tijuca","15":"tag-barrinha","16":"tag-borel","17":"tag-city-coun","18":"tag-community-organizing","19":"tag-consequences-of-eviction-health","20":"tag-forced-evictions","21":"tag-guaratiba","22":"tag-history","23":"tag-horto","24":"tag-housing","25":"tag-housing-rights","26":"tag-indiana","27":"tag-maracajas","28":"tag-marcelo-crivella","29":"tag-north-zone","30":"tag-radio-sonda","31":"tag-real-estate-speculation","32":"tag-resistance","33":"tag-rio-das-pedras","34":"tag-solidarity","35":"tag-west-zone","36":"writer-edmund-ruge"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40615","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\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40615"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=40615"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=40615"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=40615"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=40615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}