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AUTHORITARIANISM CITIES CRIME RIO DE JANEIRO

Military Operation in Maré: Harassment, Illegality and Murder

The action lasted over 14 hours, leaving one dead, dozens of injured and thousands of angry citizens. As Rio de Janeiro’s military occupation reaches the 6 month mark, all analysis points to it’s colossal failure. Shootings have increased by 40%, there have been 2600 murders, and 736 people were killed by the police. The drug […]

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AUTHORITARIANISM CITIES CRIME RIO DE JANEIRO

“Lots of Gunfire, Little Intelligence”: Rio’s Military Failure

Deaths in massacres have increased while arms apprehensions have dropped, according to data from the Candido Mendes University Center for Security and Citizenship Studies’ (CESeC) Military Intervention Observatory. Five months after the start of the Rio de Janeiro military occupation, a new study shows the resounding failure of the operation, which was decreed by President […]

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CITIES HOUSING HOUSING MOVEMENTS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Brasília: Homeless Workers Occupy Federal Cities Ministry

Thousands march against increase in violence, mass evictions and criminalization of social movement leaders On June 5, bus caravans arrived in Brasilia from across the country, carrying members of the nation’s largest urban social movements, representing over 1 million organized homeless workers. For four days, they camped out and marched on the nations capital, holding […]

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CITIES HOUSING MOVEMENTS PAYSANDU FIRE SÃO PAULO SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

São Paulo: 34 days after fire, victims still living in tents

City, State and Federal Governments abandon victims of Paysandu fire and building collapse By Benedito Barbosa On May 1, a former federal police building that was occupied by squatters caught fire and collapsed on Paysandu square, killing an undetermined number of people and leaving 455 homeless. 34 days later, dozens of families are still sleeping […]

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CITIES HOUSING PAYSANDU FIRE SOCIAL INCLUSION SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

The Paysandu Fire and the Right to the City

By Brian Mier. In the early morning of May 1, a 24 story building on Paysandu square in central São Paulo caught fire and collapsed. There are three confirmed deaths and 36 people are still missing. The building was a squat which was home to 140 families. The fire department was quick to the scene […]

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CITIES HOUSING PAYSANDU FIRE SOCIAL INCLUSION SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

A Tragedy Foretold: FLM leader Osmar Silva Borges on the Paysandu Fire

Although squatters are frequently treated as criminals in the national and international media, according to article 5 of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, any citizen who does not own property has the right to occupy any abandoned tax-scofflaw building and pressure the government to convert it to ownership-based social housing. In São Paulo, a dozen buildings […]

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CITIES HOUSING MEDIA PAYSANDU FIRE SOCIAL INCLUSION SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

When Living is a Privilege, Occupying is a Right

According to the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, land banking is a crime. Unlike in, for example, the United States, it is illegal for a landlord to hold a building empty for years, without paying real estate taxes or maintaining the property, waiting for real estate values to rise so that he can flip it. If […]

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CITIES EQUALITY HOUSING INTERNATIONAL MEDIA MEDIA SÃO PAULO SOCIAL INCLUSION

Guardian Criminalizes the Urban Poor in Rockefeller-Sponsored Series on São Paulo

The Guardian kicked off a week of coverage about São Paulo today, as part of its Rockefeller Foundation sponsored “Cities” Series.  Although part of this content appears to be generated with support from local news non-profit Agência Publica and respectable local journalists like Leonardo Sakamoto, the series opens with erroneous information. Today’s headline says, reads […]

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CITIES HOUSING SOCIAL INCLUSION SOCIAL MOVEMENTS UNDERSTANDING BRASIL

Radical Reform and the Right to the Brazilian City

The Rise, Success and Decline of the PT Party’s Virtuous Cycle Model of Urban Governance. By Brian Mier. In 1964, the US helped overthrow democratically elected, center-left president Jango Goulart and install a military dictatorship in Brazil, which lasted for twenty-one years. As the government arrested and tortured peaceful protesters, several different groups started armed […]

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CITIES DEMOCRACY ECONOMY HISTORY HOUSING POLITICS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Urban Reformer: An interview with Erminia Maricato

Original version of article at COHA. Reproduced with permission. This interview was originally conducted in Portuguese, and translated by the author. Erminia Maricato is one of Brazil’s most renowned urban planners. In addition to having published 11 books and contributed nearly 40 book chapters, her lectures, often in public forums and protests, regularly draw large […]