Clashes as homeless are evicted from abandoned building in Rio

A building owned by Brazilian telecom giant Oi was the stage for a violent police operation this Friday (Apr. 11) as a court order was executed evicting around 5 thousand people from the area. The place had been occupied for 11 days.

Conflicts grew more violent after a leader of the occupation was arrested and the police began to throw stun grenades and fire tear gas in an attempt to gain control of the situation. A car from the Military Police and a bus were torched. Soldiers from the riot police squad and the Military Police shot rubber bullets to drive protesters away. A vehicle from a television network was stoned.

The building occupied by the homeless had been abandoned over ten years ago.

The governor of Rio de Janeiro announced that the Military Police was carrying out a court order issued by Judge Maria Aparecida Silveira de Abreu.

Families have nowhere to go

After leaving the building, occupiers staged a peaceful demonstration, shouting “We want housing!” Most of them remained on the sidewalk with their belongings, like Reginaldo Pereira, 31, unemployed. He was in the site with his wife and 1-year-old son, and said: “We arrived at four, and they fired pepper gas on everybody’s eyes, and we hadn’t showed any resistance.”

Like Pereira, most of the occupiers had decided to move to the area in order to escape from exorbitant rents, especially after the pacification operations were launched in the slums. “Our goal is housing, because we’re not covered by any of the government’s social programs. I had to leave my community, Jacarezinho, because the rent there had gotten just too high. I make [$320 a month] and pay a rent of [$180]. I use the rest to eat what I can,” said mechanic Adriano Rodrigues de Oliveira.

Now the solution lies in the hands of the authorities, since the court decision has already been made – this is the opinion of many occupiers, who also claimed residence in the space formerly used as warehouse by ex-Telerj (now Oi, after the state-run company was privatized in the 90’s). The area had become a place for crack users and dealers to congregate.

“I think the governor should help us. We’re not the violent type,” said pensioner Denair Borges. Many questioned the investments made over the last years in construction works for the World Cup. “They’ve got money for the World Cup, but for the population nothing has been invested. The elections are coming, and they’ll come and ask us for our votes,” complained Fabiana de Paula da Costa, currently jobless.

Journalists under attack

The Military Police also obstructed the work of the media. Journalists covering the eviction were treated with violence. Reporter Bruno Amorim, from daily O Globo, was arrested after filming the operation. His glasses were forcefully taken by an officer with no identification, and his cellular phone remained in the possession of the police for over an hour.

This was not the first time the police in Rio de Janeiro attempts to intimidate journalists. Reporter Leonardo Barros, also from O Globo, was threatened with arrest in case he did not “run away” from the site.

Media companies and associations have condemned the acts of brutality by the police as well as the reaction of demonstrators who resisted eviction and damaged cars from major television networks Globo, SBT and Record. In the view of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism, by destroying vehicles belonging to communication agencies, “protesters join forces with the police to deny society its right to information.”

Expressing a similar judgment, the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters noted that violent methods employed both by the Military Police and civilians are “deeply worrying”, as it is detrimental to the work of journalism and prevents society from having access to information.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira