Fighting Olympic eviction in Rio favela

Fighting Olympic eviction in Rio favela

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As sports arenas rise up around them and the houses of neighbours are reduced to rubble, more than 20 families refuse to leave their favela, or squatter settlement, on the border of the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, vowing to fight eviction whatever the cost.

With just a year to go before the Games come to Brazil, over 90 percent of residents in the slum of Vila Autodromo have already left after accepting compensation and their homes destroyed. Some 50 or so families remain, living in a ghost town with sporadic access to water and electricity and having suffered violent run-ins with police. About half of those families are digging in their heels.

. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

The 450 families that have already been moved from the favela are just a small part of more than 20,000 families re-located since 2009 in the state of Rio de Janeiro alone, many of them to make way for Olympic projects. Around half of the families still living in the favela say they are open to negotiating with local authorities about their resettlement.

The holdouts of Vila Autodromo have become a powerful symbol against the use of the Olympic Games to modernise Rio, a move critics say is only benefiting the rich.

The run-up to the World Cup last year was marked by the largest street protests in decades by Brazilians angry about the billions spent to host the event. While few are predicting similar demonstrations against the Olympics, social discontent is bubbling just below the surface.

"I don't want to leave, I don't want to negotiate the sale of my house. I want to stay."
Maria da Penha

Penha, 50, has lived in Vila Autodromo for nearly half her life. She recently had her nose broken in a scuffle with police as holdouts tried to stop a home from being demolished.

"We have the right to stay and I think that those rights need to be respected," Penha said, referring to land titles given to residents by the state government in 1994.

. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Rio's City Hall says some of these titles are invalid as the properties are in an area under environmental protection, while other parts of the favela need to be cleared to make way for access roads into the Olympic Park.

The Mayor's office said families who are neither inside the environmental zone nor where the roads will be built can stay. Residents say tactics on the ground go against such assurances.

. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Located off a main avenue in Rio's prosperous beachside suburb of Barra da Tijuca, Vila Autodromo is a small strip of houses and unpaved roads bordering a lagoon. The buildings vary from ramshackle cinder block homes, typical of squatter settlements, to well-built spacious houses overlooking the water.

. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

The City Hall says the negotiation process has been transparent and denies any accusations it used violence or disrespected residents.

In interviews with a dozen holdouts, residents described the neighbourhood as a "paradise” compared with other poor areas of Rio.

"It is a community where there is no violence and where a lot of the residents have lived for over 40 years. Most of them have gone now, but those that remain make me want to stay,” said Jose Gomes, 65. “Money won't buy me.”

. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
"This place is paradise, a health spa for poor people. A community where there is no militia, no trafficking, no gang members. There is no other place like this in Rio de Janeiro,” Marcia Lemos, 58.

Residents believe the area will be used to build luxury apartments or hotels once the Games are over.

Plans already exist to transform much of the Olympic Park into high-rise apartments, and the Olympic Village, which is under construction nearby and will house visiting athletes, will also later be sold as residences.

Human rights group Amnesty International says the government has yet to produce convincing evidence that the community really needs to be moved.

. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

"Vila Autodromo is a piece of my history which they are trying to take away from us," said 23-year-old resident Luisa de Oliveira.

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Slideshow

A child flies a kite near a partially demolished building.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

A child flies a kite near a partially demolished building.

Children play near demolished houses.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Children play near demolished houses.

Construction work for the Rio 2016 Olympic Park is seen from a partially demolished house.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Construction work for the Rio 2016 Olympic Park is seen from a partially demolished house.

A partially demolished house stands in the Vila Autodromo slum.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

A partially demolished house stands in the Vila Autodromo slum.

A child surrounded by rubble flies a kite.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

A child surrounded by rubble flies a kite.

Children play football.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Children play football.

Sandra de Souza, 47: "The Vila Autodromo is like a resort. It looks like, even with the demolition, a small city inside a metropolis. It's upsetting seeing city hall destroying everything. They are putting an end to part of the city of Rio de Janeiro."
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Sandra de Souza, 47: "The Vila Autodromo is like a resort. It looks like, even with the demolition, a small city inside a metropolis. It's upsetting seeing city hall destroying everything. They are putting an end to part of the city of Rio de Janeiro."

Denise Costa, 65: "It's a really good place to live, it's a quiet, family community. This is not like other places where there are gang members. Now everybody is sad because the families got split up when some wanted to go to one place and others to somewhere else. Simply because of Olympic Games, a lot of families were destroyed."
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Denise Costa, 65: "It's a really good place to live, it's a quiet, family community. This is not like other places where there are gang members. Now everybody is sad because the families got split up when some wanted to go to one place and others to somewhere else. Simply because of Olympic Games, a lot of families were destroyed."

Jorge Reis, 68: "Vila Autodromo is a paradise. There are no walls between the houses and the lagoon, there is no danger."
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Jorge Reis, 68: "Vila Autodromo is a paradise. There are no walls between the houses and the lagoon, there is no danger."

Miro de Almeida, 51, who has lived there for 16 years, said: "I like living here, it's calm, it's tranquil."
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Miro de Almeida, 51, who has lived there for 16 years, said: "I like living here, it's calm, it's tranquil."

A house stands in the Vila Autodromo slum.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

A house stands in the Vila Autodromo slum.

A public phone is seen in the Vila Autodromo favela.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

A public phone is seen in the Vila Autodromo favela.

A dog sits on the street next to a partially demolished house, with construction work for the Rio 2016 Olympic Park seen in the background.
. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

A dog sits on the street next to a partially demolished house, with construction work for the Rio 2016 Olympic Park seen in the background.