{"id":62856,"date":"2020-11-18T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=62856"},"modified":"2020-11-19T08:57:24","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T11:57:24","slug":"municipal-elections-in-the-periphery-of-duque-de-caxias-and-the-politics-of-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=62856","title":{"rendered":"Municipal Elections in the Periphery of Duque de Caxias and the Politics of Fatigue"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

This article is part of a\u00a0<\/i>series of articles on Rio de Janeiro\u2019s 2020 municipal elections<\/a><\/i>\u00a0from a favela perspective.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

Expectations from Candidates\u2019 Promises Vanish with Time<\/h3>\n

What dynamics does electoral behavior reveal with the passage of time, amid so many unfulfilled promises<\/a> and frustrated expectations? How does this affect people’s votes or other responses today? Can this year\u2019s choices be influenced by the coronavirus<\/a> pandemic, which has made clear the perverse absence of public policy<\/a> in promoting an efficient management of the humanitarian crisis in the favelas and other peripheries?<\/p>\n

To know a little more about how these questions are perceived by voters living in the outskirts of the municipality of Duque de Caxias<\/a> in Greater Rio de Janeiro’s\u00a0Baixada Fluminense<\/a> region, RioOnWatch\u00a0<\/em>interviewed three residents of the neighborhood of Pantanal<\/a>. In Pantanal, there are neither daycares nor emergency clinics, and almost all streets lack adequate sewerage, a situation that has been compounded by longstanding mobility problems.<\/p>\n

In 2018, on the eve of the last general election\u2014when Brazilians elected the president, governors, senators, and members of state and federal congress\u2014RioOnWatch<\/em>\u00a0visited<\/a> the neighborhood of Pantanal to hear residents’ analysis of the political scenario. At the time, we heard from three residents: Juliana Maia, a tour guide and one of the founders of the Lanatanpa Family<\/a> social project, which disseminates hip-hop culture<\/a> and organizes talks about various topics for local youth; Jonathan Farias, a business owner; and Gabriel Goulart, a young, 20-year-old barber.<\/p>\n

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

This time, on the eve of the 2020 municipal elections<\/a>, we were not able to locate the two young men for a follow-up conversation, but we were able to speak with Juliana Maia. She was accompanied by retiree Orlando S\u00e9rgio and nutritionist Olga C\u00e9sar. All three participants have lived in Pantanal their whole lives.<\/p>\n

But what has time taught the trio about unfulfilled promises during each election year? How does this cycle of endless repetition impact their lives? In Maia’s opinion, part of what this community lives through is directly related to an inconvenient agreement among its own residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone [the candidate] comes here every four years and makes a good impression, people go and dance to the music. Memory loss is also a problem. Voters forget too quickly. They\u2019re wrong, but we, as a population, also contribute to this,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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

S\u00e9rgio outlined another element that contributes to this local political scenario: the heat of the moment.<\/p>\n

“The guy comes here, promises that he\u2019ll bring schools, emergency clinics<\/a>, etc. He holds a party, a little barbecue, people will say they\u2019ll vote for him, then he leaves. Two years later, and it’s the same thing. The people always will believe that something will change,\u201d says the 44-year resident of the neighborhood. He says that he has \u201cnever seen anything good [coming from politicians].\u201d<\/p>\n

C\u00e9sar says that politicians take advantage of this forgetfulness. They know it is one of their most powerful weapons, allowing them to repeat the same thing over and over again. \u201cIf every person thought their vote was the most important key to their future, they would never vote for the same people. But people sell themselves very easily, for so little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stolen Hope<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Maia, a resident of Pantanal for the past 37 years, says that her greatest frustration was that her own project, Lanatanpa Family, has not succeeded in awakening a critical perspective among all of the residents who are deceived year after year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe these promises would be a bit more consistent if all that was said and worked on at our roundtables about political party responsibility had been absorbed. But everything falls flat when some crook comes along wanting a vote. This lets me down a lot. It\u2019s not just one mayor that has abandoned Duque de Caxias, it\u2019s many of them!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

C\u00e9sar complains about that the peripheral neighborhoods of Caxias do not have as many technological systems of monitoring and control, like CCTVs, as do streets and commercial establishments of the large urban centers, including those of Baixada Fluminense. In her eyes, if Pantanal had more of these, deaths\u2014such as those of her own father and cousin, murdered in the same year\u2014would have been avoided. “They don\u2019t invest in security in this country,\u201d says C\u00e9sar, who affirms that the region is an escape route for car thieves from other localities and police operations frequently put residents\u2019 lives at risk.<\/p>\n

Elections and the Pandemic<\/h3>\n

Ever since the 21st century\u2019s largest health crisis arrived in Brazil<\/a> in March of this year, there have been various reports of humanitarian aid organized by local collectives<\/a> from the peripheries. Once again, public authorities made insufficient efforts to provide protection<\/a> to poor communities that need practically everything: food, water<\/a>, emergency aid<\/a>, personal hygiene materials, etc.<\/p>\n

The state government and most of the mayors took part in one historical omission after another, hindering instead of helping with a vast series of daily cases of necropolitics<\/a>. Some significant initiatives have been carried out, such as that of the Rio de Janeiro State Public Defender’s Office<\/a>, which pressured the public water utility CEDAE<\/a> to expand its distribution of water<\/a> and even reactivate it in areas of economic vulnerability<\/a>. But how will these scenarios influence the decisions of voters from the peripheries in 2020?<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this only goes to show that no one is worried about us<\/a>. If we are able to get out of this pandemic alive, this means we can deal with anything. If the message was ‘you poor people are going to die because you have nothing<\/a>,’ I say, we\u2019re going to survive. When we need you [the government], you don\u2019t appear. You\u2019re the ones who will need us,\u201d affirms Maia.<\/p>\n

C\u00e9sar thinks a little differently. For her, most politicians will continue to act as they always have. \u201c[At election time] they are always going to help you with what you need, and the [voters] will be charmed by the caring gestures of the candidates. Because the communities are always alone, because politics doesn\u2019t reach the communities, [the community] has always supported itself. Because it\u2019s always complicated to explain to those who have less schooling<\/a> who exactly that candidate is who is passing through their neighborhood\u2014the one who will buy you a gas canister, or give you a little money. [It\u2019s difficult to explain] that you must check if that person has a clean record and listen to their proposals. It\u2019s really complicated,\u201d says the nutritionist.<\/p>\n

And voting? Is there any energy left for it? S\u00e9rgio says there isn\u2019t, not even a little. \u201cWe\u2019re obliged to vote for politicians who are not idealists. All they\u2019re worried about is making profit. Although I already know who I\u2019m voting for for mayor, I feel in my heart that he\u2019ll do little for the city. It\u2019s complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fabio Leon is a journalist, human rights activist, and communications officer at the Grita Baixada Forum<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Support our efforts to provide strategic assistance to Rio\u2019s favelas during the Covid-19 pandemic, including\u00a0RioOnWatch<\/i>\u2019s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas\u00a0by clicking here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas This article is part of a\u00a0series of articles on Rio de Janeiro\u2019s 2020 municipal elections\u00a0from a favela perspective. Expectations from Candidates\u2019 Promises Vanish with Time What dynamics does electoral behavior reveal […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":62864,"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":[1668,1328],"tags":[3221,460,371,3068,504,479,694,381,2211,2496,1197,2999,2833,2481,69,809,458,259],"writer":[2495],"translator":[3222],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-62856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-participationwatch","8":"category-by-community-contributors","9":"tag-2020-municipal-election","10":"tag-baixada-fluminense","11":"tag-cedae","12":"tag-coronavirus","13":"tag-culture","14":"tag-democracy","15":"tag-duque-de-caxias","16":"tag-electioneering","17":"tag-favela-representation-in-politics","18":"tag-forum-grita-baixada","19":"tag-greater-rio","20":"tag-necropolitics","21":"tag-pantanal-neighborhood","22":"tag-police-violence","23":"tag-public-defenders","24":"tag-public-security","25":"tag-street-culture","26":"tag-youth","27":"writer-fabio-leon","28":"translator-victoria-fiore"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62856","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\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62856"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=62856"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=62856"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=62856"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=62856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}