Rio 2016 Games: effects of people removal

The works to turn Rio de Janeiro into an Olympic city has led the city government to take efforts beyond erecting sports facilities buildings and expanding access roads necessary for the athletes' and audience's mobility. For building the Olympic Park, the local government removed the residents of Vila Autódromo, a community that gathered about 500 families living for more than 40 years beside the old racetrack Autódromo Jacarepaguá, in the city's west zone.

At least 400 families were sheltered in apartments in a housing complex, called Carioca Parque, in Estrada dos Bandeirantes, also in the west zone. Other families took compensations and moved to different locations. Only 24 families will remain in the community after the conclusion of the urbanization plan promised by the city hall for July 22. Despite the small number of residents who will remain in the location, the community and the State Public Defender's Office believe in the "resistance victory".

Resettled

Interviewed by Agência Brasil, the residents of the new community complain about the process undertaken by the city government. They claim that their promises were not fulfilled and that the apartments are too small for their families. They consider it an unfair deal and say they were brought under psychological pressure for accepting any agreement.

At least 120 families (around 400 families left Vila Autódromo) plan to file a lawsuit against the city hall to receive compensation for the buildings demolished.

Electrotechnician Orlando Santos is one among this group. According to him, there was no real deal during the process, but an imposition that left no alternative for many families who agreed to their eviction and moved to the housing complex. Although the installment debts are being paid by the city government, the debt of $23,000 is in the residents' name. They also had to make a commitment to remain in the property until 2024.

Santos has another complaint. He claims that the studio apartment where he lived was worth at least $75,000 and other people had sold a same-size apartment for $120,000.

Because of divergent information and changing criteria, the house-swapping deal fail to please housewife Sônia Maria da Silva. "Some of the people who were evicted after us took a three bedroom apartment and also received money, and they had all-wooden houses. Mine was all in ceramics and I had not received anything for it," she reported.

Resistance

The decision of 24 families to remain in Vila Autódromo forced Rio de Janeiro city government to draw up an urbanization plan in March this year. The plan, discussed with locals, included the demolition of all houses and the construction of a patterned village. The agreement between the city hall and the residents, brokered by the State Public Defender's Office, was signed on April 13. The local government expects the urbanization works to be concluded by July 22.

Encouraged by the solution to the problem, charwoman Maria da Penha Macena says resistance was worthy. "This struggle is not only mine, it's the struggle for each of us because we need to have better cities, better countries. It's a struggle for love for a land, where in order to house a mega-event, authorities will not expel the favelas, the communities, because we do have equal rights, we are all equals."

Eviction

The removal of people from Vila Autódromo provoked again the discussion about the need for resettlement areas and about the housing pressure on poor communities who live in the city's prime areas.

The local government says this is the only eviction directly linked to Rio 2016. However, the Olympics Organizing Committee stated that they had not required the removal of the community. Human rights organizations make critical remarks on the removal of residents and report what they called "social cleansing."

According to the Mega-Events and Human Rights Violations in Rio de Janeiro dossier, the fourth version of the document released by the World Cup and Olympics Popular Committee of Rio de Janeiro in November, the community eviction from areas with values raised by the recent works are "the tip of a profound transformation project aimed at Rio de Janeiro urban dynamics model."

The dossier shows that the bidding contract for the concession of public space for building the Olympic Park stated that, after the Games, 75% of the area of 1.18 million m2 would promote a high standard residential development to be sold by the concessionaire. "Thus, evicting a low-income community settled in the place has been taken as a priority by Rio de Janeiro city government to set up another commercialization project for the city," read the documents.

According to official data from the city gathered in the dossier, 22,059 families were evicted from 2009 to 2015, totaling 77,206 people.

Questioned about public spaces being negotiated with large construction companies, the city hall sent, in a note, an assessment of the resettlements made since 2009. "The overwhelming majority—15,937 families (72.2%)—left their houses to face some kind of risk: slope slides, river banks (risk of flooding), unhealthy conditions and property's ruin.” According to city hall officials, some communities were resettled so that improvements could be provided for their residents.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta

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