{"id":81867,"date":"2025-10-20T14:23:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81867"},"modified":"2025-10-29T08:18:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:18:47","slug":"in-rio-de-janeiro-century-old-communities-on-governors-island-speak-out-against-threats-of-forced-eviction-by-the-brazilian-air-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81867","title":{"rendered":"In Rio de Janeiro, Century-Old Communities on Governor’s Island Speak Out Against Threats of Forced Eviction by the Brazilian Air Force"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"House<\/a>
House demolished in R\u00e1dio Sonda. Photo: Personal Archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

The possibility of forcibly evicting<\/a> the Maracaj\u00e1s<\/a>, R\u00e1dio Sonda<\/a>, and Estrada do Gale\u00e3o No. 92 favelas, located near the Tom Jobim (Gale\u00e3o<\/a>) International Airport where tourists visiting Rio land each day, is once again haunting residents. The threat comes from the Brazilian Air Force Command (COMAER<\/a>), which gained administrative control over the area, on Ilha do Governador<\/a> (Governor’s Island) in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s North Zone<\/a>, five years ago, effectively becoming its new owner.<\/p>\n

Situated along Estrada do Gale\u00e3o, the main expressway on the island that connects the neighborhood of Gale\u00e3o to the airport itself and Praia do S\u00e3o Bento, these communities are home to approximately 160 low-income families, totaling over 800 residents. The land was occupied over 100 years ago, back when it belonged to the Secretary of Federal Heritage (SPU<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Although they have lived with gradual evictions<\/a> and attempts at forced expropriation<\/a> for over 20 years, the fear of losing everything overnight<\/a> has intensified over the past two years. Since COMAER obtained the official concession to administer the area on Ilha do Governador, the threat of eviction has loomed over families.<\/p>\n

\"Areas<\/a>
Areas where the communities threatened with removal by the Air Force Command are located. Photo: Google Maps\/Reproduction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018That\u2019s it, Get Out\u2019<\/h3>\n

The land that houses these communities today was first occupied 100 years ago by migrant families from different parts of Brazil. Initially, the area was under federal administration, but in 2020 it was transferred to the control of the Air Force Command (COMAER). The three communities border the housing complex for Air Force noncommissioned officers and sergeants.<\/p>\n

The first eviction notices were issued in the 1990s, and actual removals began in the 2000s. Despite the community\u2019s ongoing struggle to remain<\/a>, to date around 15 families from Maracaj\u00e1s and R\u00e1dio Sonda have been forcibly evicted from their homes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cristina Santos,* 62, a homemaker, has lived in Maracaj\u00e1s\u2014the oldest of the three communities\u2014for the past 35 years. Alongside her husband and daughter, she shares the fear of losing everything and recalls the last violent forced eviction<\/a> she witnessed less than ten years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been seven or eight years since they started sending letters saying we\u2019d have to leave. But some [families] have been here for 100 years. My own family is already in its fifth generation [living here]. One day they just showed up out of nowhere, went to the neighbors next door and threw their furniture out the window\u2014no mercy, no warning, no time. It was basically: \u2018That\u2019s it. Get out!<\/a>\u2019 They started saying this land belonged to them. When my mother-in-law came here, she was still a kid\u2014her father worked on the construction of the [old] bridge on Ilha do Governador. These plots of land were given to workers on those projects. The place where the Air Force administration is today used to be a chicken farm. There was nothing here! When my father was around, there wasn\u2019t even an Air Force yet! They don\u2019t need this land. The day they came to kick people out, they blocked off the street, came in with trucks, the Military Police<\/a> and the Municipal Guard<\/a>, pushing residents around, even the elderly. They beat people up\u2026 They said they were going to store everyone\u2019s belongings in a warehouse, but to this day no one knows where anything ended up. Many went to live with relatives. Some died because of it, from heartbreak. It\u2019s sad. They\u2019re cowards. There was no need for that. There are drug users living in the abandoned houses now. They beat people up and evicted them for nothing.\u201d \u2014 Cristina Santos<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Residents<\/a>
Residents of Estrada de Maracaj\u00e1s protested on October 4, 2017, for their right to remain. Photo: SOS Maracaj\u00e1s Social Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ana Maria Goulart,* 47, a saleswoman and mother of two, has lived in R\u00e1dio Sonda, in Vila Juaniza, for 23 years. She said the struggle has been long and that it\u2019s even made it hard for her to sleep<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother-in-law, the first resident here, told me she used to receive text messages and emails from the Public Defenders’ Office about the eviction order. She appealed, and then everyone else [other residents] joined her, but there has never been a final decision or any kind of agreement. After she passed, my partner and I were left to face this situation ourselves. It’s been distressing because we have nowhere else to go. We have a daughter with special needs, and it’s very hard to live with this uncertainty. You can never relax or sleep properly. We’re always thinking about it. It’s really difficult. I never imagined going through a situation like this, suddenly being without a home. It’s truly unbearable. My children grew up in this house. All we want is permission to keep living here.\u201d \u2014 Ana Maria Goulart<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Protest<\/a>
Protest by R\u00e1dio Sonda community residents against evictions in 2015. Photo: T\u00e2nia R\u00eago \/ Ag\u00eancia Brasil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"In<\/a>
In 2016, residents of Estrada do Gale\u00e3o No. 92 filed a request at the notary office, seeking official recognition of their land ownership. Photo: Personal Archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Estrada do Gale\u00e3o No. 92 has not yet experienced any forced evictions, it is now also at risk. The land where the community is currently established was donated in the 1990s by a former Air Force colonel from Ilha do Governador to an employee who performed repair work at the site. Since the plot of land was so large, the employee\u2014and new owner\u2014granted small portions to other people living in vulnerable situations. However, according to Jeferson Almeida,* a resident of Estrada do Gale\u00e3o No. 92, the respite lasted only six years. In 2003, they received their first eviction notice.<\/p>\n

Years later, in 2016, the new residents filed a request with the notary office to register the land. However, although they obtained a notarized declaration, the eviction notices never stopped. To date, ten notices have been issued to this community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [court officers] came here to talk to my father and said we had to leave. At the time, my father sought help from the Public Defenders’ Office, and from then on, the lawsuits just kept pouring in. Every time a lawsuit came, he’d appeal, and that would be the end of it. In 2017, another one was filed, this time requesting the return of the land. They [the Air Force] evicted the residents from another area [the Maracaj\u00e1s community], located behind ours, and left the plots of land abandoned. Some houses have been empty and falling apart for seven to ten years.\u201d \u2014 Jeferson Almeida<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Almeida said that, in his opinion, the only possible explanation for this persistent push for removal is the plan to build a waterway terminal that would turn the area into part of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s tourist infrastructure. From this terminal, ferries would connect Gale\u00e3o Airport to Santos Dumont Airport<\/a>, across Guanabara Bay<\/a>, in the city\u2019s downtown<\/a> area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to kick us out because they want to profit from the land. [They want to build] a ferry station here. The federal government and the Air Force want to take over land they never cared about, that was abandoned, to claim ownership and make money. There are houses that have been sealed off, with gates bricked up.\u201d \u2014 Jeferson Almeida<\/p><\/blockquote>\n