{"id":61577,"date":"2020-08-21T14:53:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T17:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=61577"},"modified":"2020-08-28T19:00:02","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T22:00:02","slug":"activists-and-community-residents-discuss-the-fight-against-evictions-during-the-pandemic-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=61577","title":{"rendered":"Favela Leaders and Activists Discuss the Fight Against Evictions During the Pandemic [VIDEO]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

This is our latest article covering Covid-19 and its impacts on the favelas<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

On August 11, the Popular Council<\/a>, a collaborative network that defends housing rights and fights against evictions<\/a> in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, hosted a discussion, broadcast live on Facebook, about the city government’s history of forcing the urban poor off their land and its continued push to carry out evictions in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

The discussion was moderated by Breno Botelho, an activist with the Popular Council. The invited speakers included Mariana Medeiros, a lawyer and adviser to state legislator Fl\u00e1vio Serafini; public defender<\/a> Viviane Tardelli; Indianara Siqueira, an activist and founder of Casa Nem<\/a>, a shelter and refuge for LGBT+<\/a> individuals in Copacabana<\/a>, in Rio\u2019s South Zone<\/a>; Fladimir Guimar\u00e3es, a resident of the Santa Luzia<\/a> favela, West Zone<\/a>; Paulo Machado, president of the Trapicheiros<\/a> favela’s residents’ association in Tijuca, North Zone<\/a>; and In\u00eas Deodoro from the Indiana<\/a> favela’s residents commission, also in Tijuca.<\/p>\n

The discussion highlighted the longstanding nature of violations of housing rights in Rio de Janeiro. Guimar\u00e3es highlighted Santa Luzia\u2019s decades-long trajectory in their fight to remain. Despite obtaining the status of an Area of Special Social Interest<\/a> (AEIS) in 2009, along with 29 other communities in the surrounding Vargem Pequena<\/a>\u00a0area, the favela has not ceased being a desired area for the city and\u00a0real estate developers<\/a>, even as the pandemic rages. \u201cThe issue is very clear,\u201d Guimar\u00e3es said. \u201cThe poor can\u2019t live in a rich area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siqueira said that the\u00a0current situation with Casa Nem<\/a>, threatened with eviction, reflects similar dynamics of real estate interests, as the group is using an abandoned building in upscale Copacabana as their home. Additionally, anti-LGBT dynamics are at play: \u201c[In the fight for housing rights] there is a lot of machismo, a lot of LGBTphobia.\u201d Given that many people who live in Casa Nem are there because of lack of acceptance or support from their families, this creates an extremely dangerous situation for a group that is already highly vulnerable in Brazil.<\/p>\n

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Machado and Deodoro, both from favelas with a century’s history in Tijuca<\/a>, discussed similar situations in their fights against eviction over the last few years. Deodoro said that it is critical to remember what the favelas mean to their residents<\/a>, noting that residents have \u201chouses built with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears\u2026 Every community has its positive aspects that tie us here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Machado said that the prejudice and racism<\/a> of some residents of the next-door condominium<\/a>, played an important role in the push to remove Trapicheiros<\/a>, citing blatantly offensive posts in the Facebook group Alerta Tijucano. \u201cThey let us know clearly that we are visual pollution,\u201d he described.<\/p>\n

Allegations that favelas are an environmental blight play a large role in eviction threats. Machado argued that this perspective is highly misguided: \u201cLook at our growth and then look at [theirs]\u2026They deforested and devastated all of this, and they have the audacity to tell me that we cause deforestation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For Medeiros, it is absurd that favelas are accused of being the polluters \u201cwhen the reality is that they promote the maintenance<\/a> of those spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pandemic has only complicated<\/a> what was already a dire situation for many favelas under threat of removal. \u201cPeople are going to stay at home, but in what homes?\u201d asked Tardelli, noting the virtual impossibility of social distancing for residents of these communities.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s attempts at removal are fundamentally hypocritical, argued Medeiros: \u201cRather than promoting health<\/a>, [their policies] promote insalubrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medeiros, who is closely following proposed legislation to stop evictions during the pandemic, expressed frustration over \u201cunbelievable\u201d judicial decisions regarding the issue, but remained hopeful that Rio de Janeiro’s State Legislative Assembly<\/a>\u00a0(Alerj) would be able to vote on it soon.<\/p>\n

The speakers praised the role of collectives like the Popular Council and other groups that continue to fight alongside residents threatened with eviction, as well as the perseverance of residents who have stood up to the government.<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, they all stressed the importance of having hope. \u201cDon\u2019t give up,\u201d Machado urged, saying that favelas have the strength to resist<\/a>. \u201cTrapicheiros is living proof of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the discussion here<\/a>:<\/h3>\n