{"id":84548,"date":"2026-11-13T20:22:25","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T23:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=84548"},"modified":"2026-11-13T21:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T00:04:23","slug":"a-reunion-of-mares-spirits-grassroots-communicators-and-favela-movements-elect-lula-in-rio-de-janeiro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=84548","title":{"rendered":"Favela Communicators and Movements Elect Lula in Rio de Janeiro"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mar\u00e9<\/a>
Mar\u00e9 votes 13, for Lula. March for Democracy in the group of favelas that make up Mar\u00e9. Rio, October 17, 2026. Photo: Elis\u00e2ngela Leite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

For the original article by Gizele Martins, published in Brasil de Fato on November 4, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

November 4 is Favela Day! Favelas have 129 years of history<\/a>. Today, they are home to Black communities, people hailing from Brazil\u2019s Northeast, Indigenous peoples and so many others who resignify these spaces every day. We are laborers working in precarious conditions, living in homes built<\/a> with our own hands. We have historically fought<\/a> for water, housing, safety and so many other basic human rights.<\/p>\n

Criminalization is the norm in a country marked by the criminalization of poverty<\/a> and structural racism<\/a>. In Mar\u00e9<\/a>, where I was born and raised\u2014a group of 16 favelas in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s North Zone<\/a>, home to 140,000 residents\u2014we survive countless, nearly weekly police operations<\/a> under the pretext of fighting the drug traffic<\/a>. In reality, these operations are about controlling<\/a> our land and territory, our culture, our community life and our insurgent struggles.<\/p>\n

\"Mar\u00e9<\/a>
Mar\u00e9 votes 13, for Lula. March for Democracy in the group of favelas that make up Mar\u00e9. Rio, October 17, 2026. Photo: Elis\u00e2ngela Leite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this same place\u2014as a way to reclaim a narrative often written by others<\/a> through the lens of criminalization\u2014numerous community media outlets<\/a>\u00a0are rewriting the favela’s story<\/a>. These outlets highlight our lives, music, theater, culture and work and transform all this into memory<\/a>. We have community museums<\/a>, community radio and TV stations and community newspapers, alongside social media platforms that have become a milestone in reaching audiences both within and beyond favelas.<\/p>\n

In recent years\u2014especially during election periods\u2014there have been many questions regarding us, the poor, and why a majority of people in favelas vote for the right. In the first round of this most recent election<\/a>, we did not see campaigns from left-wing parties in many of the favelas and peripheral neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s North Zone, the Baixada Fluminense<\/a> and West Zone<\/a>. In my view\u2014and that of other residents and key figures within favela movements\u2014this was a political error, and one that is not new. For some years now, we have held the view that we need left-wing movements to support our local efforts\u2014by providing political education and cultural activities, and by helping us work strategically in our struggle to secure local public policies.<\/p>\n

\"Mar\u00e9<\/a>
Mar\u00e9 votes 13, for Lula. March for Democracy in the group of favelas that make up Mar\u00e9. Rio, October 17, 2026. Photo: Elis\u00e2ngela Leite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the first round of the 2026 elections, numerous people reached out to us to develop a strategic plan to combat fake news<\/a> and create an election-focused communication campaign. In Mar\u00e9, we quickly came together in response to an internal need\u2014by residents, for residents\u2014and collectively organized a communications plan that included print materials\u2014signs, wheat-pasted posters, flyers, stickers and banners\u2014as well as a sound truck broadcasting audio recordings and music about public policies secured during the years the Workers\u2019 Party (PT) was in government.<\/p>\n

We took to social media and WhatsApp groups with graphics and short videos, highlighting both tangible achievements and the setbacks we experienced under the far-right administration during the Covid-19 pandemic. We developed this communication strategy using language that resonates locally, with the help of friends. I ask myself, though, why, even under a left-wing government, there is no investment in community media. Why are we, journalists from favelas and other territories of resistance across our country, still not valued as professionals deserving of rights<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Ultimately, in Mar\u00e9 alone\u2014thanks to the communication strategy carried out by local youth distributing flyers daily at churches, schools, family clinics and door-to-door, alongside a street demonstration that brought together nearly 2,000 people and marched through 12 of Mar\u00e9\u2019s favelas\u2014Lula gained over 9,000 votes between the first round and the runoff. According to an analysis<\/a> by grassroots outlet Voz das Comunidades<\/em><\/a>, based on data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) website, \u201cIn the 161st electoral zone, Lula received 61.90% (42,467 votes), while Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro received 38.10% (26,143 votes). Lula gained about 9,000 more votes than he had in the first round, and Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro gained about 1,800.\u201d It is worth noting that this same favela faced serious problems due to changes in voting locations<\/a> during the first round.<\/p>\n

\"Mar\u00e9<\/a>
Mar\u00e9 votes 13, for Lula. March for Democracy in the group of favelas that make up Mar\u00e9. Rio, October 17, 2026. Photo: Elis\u00e2ngela Leite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This same analysis<\/a> published by Voz das Comunidades<\/em> pointed out that \u201cin the places where residents of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>, Penha<\/a>, Mar\u00e9, City of God<\/a>, Rio das Pedras<\/a>, Gard\u00eania Azul<\/a> and Rocinha<\/a> live, Lula received more votes than Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro in every electoral zone we monitored.\u201d This, therefore, makes me question: is the problem really us poor people, stereotypically dismissed as those who \u201cdon\u2019t know how to vote\u201d? Or is it that we only see political campaigns show up in moments of desperation, as witnessed during the runoff? The right wing contests this space, this language, and this ideology on a daily basis. That is why we invite everyone to reflect on the agenda for the democratization of communication, the public funding of community media, and the ongoing work that must be sustained within our favelas and peripheral neighborhoods. Let us move forward\u2014carrying our banners, our dreams, and our visions of a different world\u2014to engage in the battle for minds and ideas, so that, together, we may transform our practices!<\/p>\n

About the Author: Gizele Martins is a communicator from the Mar\u00e9 favela in Rio de Janeiro, an anti-racism advocate, and a defender of the right to life and of territories.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Support RioOnWatch\u2019s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas by clicking here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas For the original article by Gizele Martins, published in Brasil de Fato on November 4, click here. November 4 is Favela Day! Favelas have 129 years of history. Today, they are […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":84579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1294,1290,2242,1331,335,329,1330],"tags":[595,460,231,1303,1653,756,280,32,1396,221,2228,987,2038,2679,37,193,2481,103,301,1445,12,1498,3435,1843,21],"writer":[1842],"translator":[3485],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":["post-84548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-communitymedia","category-civilsociety","category-democracy","category-opinion-2","category-policies","category-solutions","category-translation","tag-elections","tag-baixada-fluminense","tag-city-of-god","tag-communication-rights","tag-community-media","tag-community-organizing","tag-complexo-da-mare","tag-complexo-do-alemao","tag-criminalization-of-poverty","tag-favela-culture","tag-flavio-bolsonaro","tag-gardenia-azul","tag-lula","tag-narrative-shifting","tag-north-zone","tag-penha","tag-police-violence","tag-profile","tag-public-policy","tag-rio-das-pedras","tag-rocinha","tag-series-community-media-profiles","tag-structural-racism","tag-voz-das-comunidades","tag-west-zone","writer-gizele-martins","translator-ujwala-murthy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84548","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\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84548"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84583,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84548\/revisions\/84583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84548"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=84548"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=84548"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=84548"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=84548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}