http://backstory.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/07/comparing-the-good-and-the-bad-living-in-the-favela-rocinha/

There are many corrupt and dangerous leaders in Rocinha who need to be investigated and imprisoned. If not, it is undeniable that much of PAC 2 money will be stolen and diverted just as was the case with PAC 1.

Many on the right (the conservatives) argue that favelas are a result of people’s laziness, addictive personalities, natural inclination to violence and a pervasive ‘culture of poverty’ that exist in slums and ghettos. This is the approach that often ‘blames the victims’ for their problems. Many on the left (the progressives) argue that social problems in communities like Rocinha are a result of external oppression, caused by the politics and economics of powerful elites who have constructed a social structure that benefits them at the expense of the working classes and poor. A more integrated approach would try to combine some of these theories. Mundo Real undoubtedly sides much more with those on the left. Another factor that is usually omitted from grand theories on poverty and inequality is the enormous role that local level violence and corruption play in favela communities. Removing the ‘armed’ drug traffickers was the easy task for the state to accomplish, removing the highly corrupt local level politicians, businesses, and ‘community leaders’ is going to be much harder. On Friday the 2^nd this process began, but there are dozens of others, some much more corrupt and dangerous, who need to be investigated and imprisoned as well. If not, it is undeniable that much of PAC 2 money will be stolen and diverted just as was the case with PAC 1.

Many large NGOs in Rio, including the some of the most famous ones, have been mysteriously silent since the City began its mass eviction campaign in April of 2010.

Bento Rubião has gained its fair share of critics for partnering with the City. The majority of these critiques assert that it is the City that is actively trying to evict thousands of low income resident’s in Rio de Janeiro. Some believe that the City will succeed in co-opting FBR. The City has been accused of doing so with many other NGOs that receive their funding. For example, many large NGOs in Rio, including the some of the most famous ones, have been mysteriously silent since the City began its mass eviction campaign in April of 2010. Many believe this is because they are apprehensive of losing their funding, which is entirely possible, if they were to challenge the entity that pays their salaries and activities. This is why activists are concerned that FBR will follow the same path and be coerced into playing into the hands of the City’s conservative agenda.

While anything is possible, I don’t think this will happen. FBR has a history of being loyal to the communities and residents they work for. Also, they included a clause in their bidding proposal that clearly indicates the City may not attempt to interfere in their work or the contract will be dissolved. This doesn’t necessarily mean too much in a city like Rio where official decrees and laws are regularly broken, but it is something to consider. Also, as one longtime employee of FBR, who also lives and works in Rocinha, told Mundo Real, “if it was not FBR that won this bidding, it would have been another NGO and at least this way we are on the inside and will know most of what the City is planning in regards to evictions and housing.”

The event was planned to establish guidelines and proposals for the creation of housing in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The objective was to discuss alternatives for the creation of housing in the social interest as well as new management models. Without a serious housing plan or policy – major problems will continue to occur in Rio. Laboriaux is a perfect example of what can happen when a city has no effective housing policy. Laboriaux was officially created by the City of Rio de Janeiro (and to a lesser degree by the state of Rio) in 1982 when 73 families were removed from the bottom of Rocinha and resettled in area of Laboriaux. These 73 families were provided housing alongside the also newly built road, Rua Maria do Carmo. Roughly 400 people lived in Laboriaux by the end of 1982.  With no housing plan in place the city and state virtually forgot about Laboriaux. Obviously the population of Laboriaux increased and so did haphazard construction, but the authorities were not present to regulate this growth, they simply allowed the area to expand rapidly. By the early 2000s Laboriaux’s population was already over 3000 and growing and there were houses with three and in some cases four stories. Now the houses in Laboriaux could be seen from Lagoa and elsewhere in Rio’s affluent Zona Sul and this began to gravely concern some powerful people. The rains of April 2010 provided the perfect opportunity for the City and Rio’s power elite to push for the complete eviction of Laboriaux, with no plan in place as to where to send the evicted residents. This mess and countless others across the city could be largely avoided if there was a serious and fair housing policy in place.

These evictions across the city could be largely avoided if there was a serious and fair housing policy in place.

So far these meetings between the City and FBR have not had significant popular participation. This three day event was no different. If the popular participation does not increase then there will likely be problems ahead. So far these meetings have been largely dominated by technocrats and NGOs. This needs to change if a serious housing plan and policy is to be arrived at.

Rocinha sem Fronteirs - 26 of November 2011

On Saturday the 26^th of November the community-based organization, Rocinha sem Fronteiras (Rocinha without Borders) held their monthly meeting which always fall on the third Saturday of every month. There were roughly 20 people present. The theme of the gathering was Rocinha’s PEU or Projeto de Estruturação Urbana (Urban Structuring project). The guest speaker was Rogerio, who is finishing his PhD in urban planning at UFRJ and who in the past also worked with Toledo. Rogerio’s research is centered on Rio’s PEUs. He admitted that Rocinha is the first favela community he has even focused on that is trying to implement a PEU. Most PEUs are implemented in the ‘formal city.’ For example, there is one for Botafogo, nine in the neighborhood of Madureira and one for São Cristovão. The idea (a law actually) is relatively new, it began in 1977 and many of Rio’s neighborhoods do not yet have a PEU. Some elite neighborhoods are also trying to establish their PEUs, including Rocinha’s wealthy neighbor, São Conrado, which is trying to include in their PEU a section that would transform Estrada da Gávea, Rocinha’s main road, into a business district. Exactly what this would mean for the tens of thousands of residents who live adjacent to Estrada da Gávea is yet to be know. Rogerio mentioned that a PEU a law that in theory must be followed, unlike a Master Plan. While it was easy for the state to alter Toledo’s Master Plan it would be considerably more difficult to alter a PEU for Rocinha, which is one reason Toledo is also adamant Rocinha getting its PEU implemented.

The teleférico is increasing a divisive issue…. According to Toledo it will use up approximately 70% of the 750 million set aside for PAC 2 and it will do very little to better the quality of life for Rocinha’s residents.

It didn’t take long for the discussion of Rocinha’s PEU to turn to the hot topic of the moment, the state’s proposed teleférico (cable car) in Rocinha. The teleférico is increasing a divisive issue. Most activists in Rocinha are against the plan, but there is a small segment that is trying to convince residents that it is a good idea. These pro-teleférico residents are pretty much the same people who always gain from mega-projects in Rocinha. They are part of a highly powerful group of 30 to 40 people at the most who are constantly meddling in development projects and seeking ways to make money at the expense of Rocinha’s masses. Rocinha has long been a money making machine for people with little scruples – whether they are drug traffickers, gambling bosses, dubious NGOs, shady businesses, or corrupt politicians. For honest workers life in Rocinha and in Rio de Janeiro is very difficult, and the lure of ‘hustling’ is strong in communities like Rocinha. A few dozen of Rocinha’s residents have profited tremendously out of development projects like PAC. Literally millions were stolen and misused from PAC 1 and the teleférico, part of PAC 2, will certainly be another way corrupt ‘leaders’ will make money, because they will do their best (including coercion, intimidation and violence) to make sure that the corrupt outsiders (external politicians and corporations) make even more money here.

Rocinha has long been a money making machine for people with little scruples – whether they are drug traffickers, gambling bosses, dubious NGOs, shady businesses, or corrupt politicians.

Mundo Real is openly against the idea of building a teleférico in Rocinha. According to Toledo it will use up about 70% of the 750 million set aside for PAC 2 and it will do very little to better the quality of life for Rocinha’s residents. The Rocinha sem Fronteiras meeting was supposed to focus on Rogerio and a discussion of Rocinha’s PEU, but much like this posting the meeting was diverted by the contentious issue of the teleférico. In all fairness the teleférico is highly related to Rocinha’s PEU, and it is a part of the Urban Structuring Project that most of Rocinha’s sincere activists against.

On Saturday November 26^th there was a conference hosted by the Community Board of Rocinha, São Conrado and Gávea. The event was held at the Ayrton Senna public school, located on the São Conrado side of the new pedestrian bridge at the foot of Rocinha. The Community Board (Câmara Comuitaria) of Rocinha, São Conrado and Gávea has been described in previous posting, but it is essentially a civil society group that meets on issues concerning these three neighborhoods. Members of the Community Board participate in one (or possible more than one) of the nine thematic groups. The conference on Saturday had a very specific goal — to agree upon three priorities from each of the nine thematic groups (henceforth GT, from the Portuguese Grupos Temáticos). The nine GTs are:

1. Urbanism & Environment
2. Health and Education
3. Sports and Leisure
4. Work and Income
5. Tourism
6. Communication
7. Culture
8. Human Rights
9. Youth.

On Saturday I participated in the Urbanism & Environment GT because I have been part of this group since it was established earlier in 2011. All the GTs are important, but for many of the issues Mundo Real engagement with the Urbanism & Environment GT is of particular significance because it addresses issues related to PAC 1 and PAC 2, Rocinha’s infrastructure, forced evictions, housing and other themes related to urban planning and development in Rocinha. Ruth Jurberg also participated in the Urbanism & Environment GT. Ruth is from the Canteiro Social do PAC which is basically the social services project of PAC. She has held this position, which is under the auspice of the state government’s Casa Civil since 2007. As head of PAC’s Canterio Social she is responsible for social projects in the communities of Rocinha, Complexo do Alemão and Manguinhos.

The increasing attention from outside Rocinha is becoming an issue that has some community residents and activists on guard…

There were about 140 people at the conference, of which approximately 30% were from Rocinha. The increasing attention from outside Rocinha is becoming an issue that has some community residents and activists on guard, because before the UPP process began the Community Board meetings were small and roughly 95% comprised of Rocinha’s residents. The newfound attention is in many ways positive for a community that has long been neglected. The totalitarian regime that existed here before November 13^th made it very difficult (or impossible) for certain entities to operate in Rocinha. While some new faces are certainly welcomed the thing to be wary of is that with this new attention (and speculation) there are also many wolves in sheep’s clothing, hoping to profit off of the ‘new Rocinha.’

There were 25 participants in the Urbanism & Environment GT. During the 1 hour and 20 minutes that we were split up into GTs several important issues were raised. As usual I mentioned the evictions in Laboriaux and was pleased that we discussed this theme for some time. In the end it was added to the list of priorities but did not make the top three. Regarding Laboriaux, Ruth advised residents to seek clarification from the City because according to her it is the municipal government of Rio de Janeiro that is responsible for Laboriaux’s fate, not the state government. While this is ‘technically true’ the issue is more complex and the state does have the power to intervene. Nonetheless, Seu Martins and I arranged a meeting with the UPP Social’s local administrator, Eduardo Alencar, after the meeting, to discuss the situation in Laboriaux. It is important to note that while the UPP Social originated as a state government program it was passed on to the City about 18 months ago. We have arranged a meeting with the UPP Social in Laboriaux for the week of December 5^th.

The absolute rejection … of the plan to spend R$500 million ($300 million) to build a teleférico in Rocinha

Again, housing in Laboriaux is an issue I wanted to see make the top three priorities, but Rocinha is an enormous community with many complex issues that also need to be addressed. Also, other residents from Laboriaux who were present raised the issue in their respective GTs, and one of them, Ricardo, succeeded in getting us into the top three.

The top three priorities agreed upon in the Urbanism & Environment GT were:

1. answers regarding when PAC 1 will be completed and when PAC 2 will begin,
2. The absolute rejection, with the exception of Ruth Jurberg who was in favor, of the plan to spend R$500 million ($300 million) building a teleférico in Rocinha and
3. clarification on the status of the Parque Ecológico da Rocinha (Rocinha’s Eco Park). Essentially, all of these issues were addressed to Ruth Jurberg.

Ruth jurberg speaking at the camara comunitaria, 26 de nov 2011

In this sense we were lucky to have her in our group because she helped narrowing down doubts and priorities. Ruth, in theory, serves the deliberative function of delivering the boards suggestions to the appropriate state (and possibly municipal and federal) legislative representatives and assemblies. Ruth made it clear that PAC 2 can only begin after PAC 1 has been completely finished. This is frustrating because PAC 1 went almost 40% over budget and left about 35% of the proposed designs unfinished. The money ‘mysteriously’ disappeared and the work was left incomplete. Now the state government has asked for an additional R$50 million ($30 million) to finish PAC 1. One participant interjected, ‘I saw with my own eyes on countless occasions, trucks that were supposed to be delivering PAC 1 material being heading to areas of Rocinha and outside of Rocinha that they had no business being in.’ Ruth promised this issue would be investigated. Another point raised several times was that of the chic soccer pitch that was built with PAC 1 money. Everyone knows this concrete pitch and the related amenities around it were built for Rocinha’s drug traffickers to play soccer on and to party afterwards. Not only did they divert hundreds of thousands of dollars to build it they also deforested a federally protect area of Tijuca National Forest to do so. This is a prime example of how local level corruption interferes in ‘development’ programs in communities like Rocinha. Ruth claimed to not know about the expensive soccer pitch. Ruth added that PAC 2 had already begun in the Canto Galo community and estimated that it would be another year before it could begin in Rocinha.

After the GT meetings we return to the general assembly room and each GT presented their lists of priorities. Ruth did not stay for this part of the conference, to the dismay of many who did. Ricardo, a long time resident of Laboriaux, managed to get the critical issue of Public School Abelardo Chacrinha Barbosa (the elementary school in Laboriaux that served over 300 kids and which was closed for no valid reason in Abril of 2010) in the top three priorities of the Education and Health GT. We will make the list of top priorities available soon.

In short, the Community Board was born out of the PAC 1 Canteiro Social. It serves as an important space in which issues that are pertinent to Rocinha, São Conrado and Gávea are raised. It is by no means the only way to do so. The interesting thing, however, is that there has been a tremendous amount of interest in all things ‘Rocinha’ since the UPP process began on the 13^thof November. The Community Board meetings were small and almost solely Rocinha before. Now they are growing and attracting plenty of outside attention. While this may be good on the one hand, on the other it appears that hordes of people, businesses, NGOs and other entities that have long wanted a slice of the Rocinha pie are trying to get their grab at it now that the UPP process is offering them a chance. Rocinha has become like some kind of favela gold rush, where everyone is trying to make a name or get rich quick. Before the plunder went almost exclusively to the drug traffickers, corrupt politicians and businessmen and a few other underworld groups — now apparently any one can make it big in the slum.

Só mesmo a vontade política, descolada da realidade das nossas favelas, poderia impor a construção de teleférico na Rocinha, como vem sendo dito

Plano do teleférico na Rocinha

Falando a meus alunos sobre o plano de Haussmann para Paris, destaco, além da consistência e da beleza das intervenções, seu processo de elaboração que reuniu, pela primeira vez na Europa, equipe multidisciplinar para elaborar e implantar o plano. A reforma urbana de Paris seguiu fielmente as propostas da equipe, e não a vontade política de governantes absolutistas.

Estupefato, li, nos últimos dias, reportagens sobre as intervenções que serão feitas na Rocinha com recursos do PAC 2 e do governo estadual, e percebi que o Rio de Janeiro vive sob o jugo do absolutismo, como no reinado de Luís 16, mas com uma pequena diferença: nossos governantes não correm risco de terminar na guilhotina.

Só mesmo a vontade política, descolada da realidade de nossas favelas, poderia impor a construção de um teleférico na Rocinha; só ela poderia explicar o inexplicável, isto é, colocar de lado as propostas do Plano Diretor Socioespacial da Rocinha, aprovado pelas mesmas instituições que agora o desconsideram.
As medidas do plano para melhorar as condições de mobilidade na favela consideraram tanto a futura implantação da estação São Conrado do metrô como as estratégias adotadas pela população para se deslocar dentro da comunidade.

Têm com objetivo eliminar os gargalos que dificultam o fluxo viário e o de pedestres, que sofre com barreiras físicas de toda a ordem e com a topografia acidentada da Rocinha.

As propostas compreendem a adequação do sistema viário existente, a implantação de um binário em pequeno trecho da Estrada da Gávea, a eliminação das barreiras físicas e a implantação de cinco planos inclinados para vencer os desníveis mais severos.

São medidas simples, que provocarão uma revolução na favela, pois serão acompanhadas pela implantação das redes de infraestrutura e de escadas drenantes. E muito mais econômicas do que a implantação de um sistema de teleféricos com oito estações, conforme se anunciou.

Considero uma imprudência adotar o teleférico como solução sem antes avaliar seu funcionamento no Complexo do Alemão, o que só poderá ser feito quando estiver funcionando a plena carga. Além disso, equipamentos e tecnologia do teleférico são importados, o que torna o governo refém de uma só firma.
A construção e a manutenção das estações exigirão ruas apropriadas ao tráfego de caminhões, além de dezenas de vias de serviço para a colocação de postes. O pior é que essas obras serão feitas à custa de centenas de remoções de moradias!

A ligação direta à estação do metrô, principal argumento para a implantação do teleférico, prejudicará o comércio existente na Rocinha ao tirar os consumidores das ruas.

Assim, me parece que, em vez de gastar recursos púbicos com o teleférico, o melhor seria usá-los nas ações do Plano Diretor, amplamente discutidas com a comunidade.

Para quem ainda não sabe, as prioridades na Rocinha são saneamento, educação, saúde e moradia digna, aliás, o mesmo que o Brasil precisa, segundo o IBGE.

LUIZ CARLOS TOLEDO, arquiteto, é doutor em teoria de arquitetura pela UFRJ e professor adjunto da Faculdade de Engenharia da Uerj. Chefiou a equipe que elaborou o Plano Diretor Socioespacial da Rocinha (2007-2009).

A young girl plays in Rio de Janeiro, which is to host the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Photograph: Douglas Engle/AP

Rio de Janeiro is preparing to be in the spotlight in the coming years as it hosts the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Both events are a major test for Brazil, a country trying to confirm its role as an emerging political and economic power. For Rio, this is a unique opportunity to grow, to consolidate itself as a major tourist destination and to face some of its old demons, such as violence and inequality.

Residents are eager to know the advantages and costs involved in becoming the world’s central stage. Opportunities abound but the occasion is also riddled with dangers. One of the expected legacies is the expansion of the metropolitan transport network, notably the underground system, currently with just two lines to serve a metropolitan area of 9 million people. On the other hand, real estate speculation is already starting to exert a toll, and some residents of the best areas of the south of the city are having to move to other locations. In order to construct new infrastructure, some slums are being removed and there have been claims that their residents are neither consulted nor compensated adequately. In a few cases, the allegation is that the land from which people are being removed might not be even used for any specific purpose other than to “clean up” the area. Recently, the former Brazil footballer Romário, now an MP, issued a statement underlining that the preparation for major events cannot be enforced by trampling over poor people’s basic rights.

However, it is public security that is the basis of both hopes and scepticism. Already Rio’s main achilles heel at the time of its candidacy, public security – or the lack thereof – was always on the mind of the world when they thought of holding the Olympics in the “cidade maravilhosa“. Providing security for the games themselves is not that hard and has been done in the past in other events, albeit of a minor dimension. It takes intensive patrolling in key areas, contingency plans and the distribution of resources through social projects so that everyone has a stake in the success of the event.

But the real issue is security up to the games and, most importantly, afterwards. In a scenario traditionally dominated by violent criminal gangs that rule over small territories and their populations, the often brutal intervention of police forces who “invaded” poor slums only exacerbated the violence. In recent years, Rio police acknowledge they have killed more than 1,000 suspects a year, and are often accused of committing summary executions. On the other hand, more than 100 police officers are also executed yearly off-duty.

In 2008, the government started a new policing programme called “pacifiying police units” (UPPs), with the declared aim of reducing shootouts in the slums while also releasing these communities from the control of the gangs. The new police officers stay permanently in those slums, rather than “invade” them periodically, and try to develop a community approach. In a revolutionary shift, the aim is not to win the unwinnable “war on drugs” any more, but to protect the population. Relationships between police and poor communities are not easy after decades of clashes, but homicides appear to have declined sharply in these areas, which have also been freed from the control of armed gangs. Drug-selling goes on but without weapons or intimidation – just as you find in most other cities in the world. The initiative has received wide social support but legitimacy within the police looks uncertain: recent research showed that 70% of officers in the UPPs would rather return to “normal policing”.

The central problem is that there are only 17 UPPs and hundreds of slums. It is apparent that the government will not have enough manpower to expand this strategy to the metropolitan territory as a whole. Unsurprisingly, pacified areas prioritise middle-class and tourist neighbourhoods, as well as those where major sports events will take place. The crucial question is whether this new local policing intervention can be used to induce a global effect, for instance modifying the old police doctrine that has long privileged “shootouts against the enemy” and also inducing organised crime to act with lower levels of violence, such as is the case now in the pacified areas. If the global impact is indeed achieved, the city may look to a brighter future. Failing that, the risk is that in 2017, once world attention and economic fluxes of capital have migrated elsewhere, the city may go back to its old ways and a blood bath ensues.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/29/rio-de-janeiro-world-cup

Reporter Aline Pacheco from Balanço Geral in Laboriaux, Rocinha

On Sunday November 20th one of Brazil’s largest media corporations, Rede Record, was in Laboriaux filming for their hugely popular TV show Balanço Geral. They followed one of Laboriaux’s best known residents, Carlão, as he describe what the issues and what the major problems are. Balanço Geral came to Laboriaux at the request of persistent local residents and in light of Rio’s Mayor Eduardo Paes recent comments that the City is going to reinitiate its drive to evict Laboriaux’s residents. This time the City’s strategy is slightly different and may prove more effective. Paes has announced that half of Laboriaux, all of the homes and small businesses on the side of Rua Maria do Carmo (Laboriaux’s main street) that face Gávea, will be removed. This is perplexing to residents because the City has been silent on this issue for over a year. From April 2010 to August of 2010 Laboriaux’s future was in serious peril and total eviction seemed almost certain. By September of 2010 it seemed that the tremendous pressure residents mounted had succeeded in changing the City’s eviction plans. Only a handful of dedicated and skeptical residents continued to believe that this issue would resurface, and indeed it has. This time it is coming directly after the move to install the State’s 19th UPP public security program in Rocinha.

The UPP process is distracting the media and most residents from the fact that hundreds of people in Laboriaux are facing forced eviction.

We believe that the other side of Laboriaux (the side of Rua Maria do Carmo that faces Rocinha and São Conrado) will soon be evicted as well. Indeed, a well known resident and owner of Bar do Belo, Alberto Martins, told Mundo Real that “it makes little sense on the part of the City to remove one side only.” He continued, “this is just a way to divide people and soon, without a doubt before the Cup (World Cup in 2014), they will return to remove the my side of Maria do Carmo.” In a few instances this divisive strategy seems to be proving a success. Mundo Real asked one resident and small business owner, who lives and works on the side of Rua Maria do Carmo that isn’t currently marked for eviction, what he thought. He said, “This will be good thing, because my view (panoramic view of Rio de Janeiro) will greatly improve.” Perhaps this small businesses man is forgetting that 50% of his business would also go with the evicted residents. This type of attitude is rare but does exist.

One thing is certain, Laboriaux is slowly but steadily being demolished and little is being done to stop this.

Just as troubling as the City’s plan to evict hundreds of resident’s from Laboriaux is the fact that they are leaving the ruble behind from the houses they demolish. We have seen this before in other communities that they have been destroying, like in the Estradinha section of the Trabajaras favela in Botafogo (Which is also “pacified” – watch video here). More than just a demoralizing eye sore – that lowers moral and pushes many residents to actually want to leave their community rather than live in ruble – the wreckage is also breeding grounds for diseases and squalor, especially dengue and a noticeable increase in rats and roaches.

City cleaning ruble in Laboriaux Rocinha from demolitions after Rede Records report

Balanço Geral filming in Laboriaux, Rocinha

Not surprisingly, on Tuesday November 22nd the City must have gotten word about the Balanço Geral Report, because there were about a dozen workers in Laboriaux clearing up the exact wreckage Record and Mundo Real had reported on. It is sad but typical that it takes pressure from the media to make the authorities do what they are legally obliged to do anyway. Of it must be said, the media in Brazil, is anything but progressive. Record is however, a major rival of Globo, and there is significant political wrangling going on right now between Rede Record and the candidate(s) they support for the upcoming Mayoral elections in 2012, and Globo, and the Candidate(s) they support. This might explain why Record covered a story that usually would not have gotten their attention.

Community Board for Rocinha meeting November 17th, 2011

On Thursday, November 17th there was an important meeting in Rocinha’s Sports Complex (Complexo Esportivo da Rocinha) at 6:30PM. The meeting was organized by the Community Board for Rocinha, São Conrado and Gávea (Câmara Comunitária da Rocinha, São Conrado e Gávea). The Community Board is a social movement that was formed in early 2011 with the aim of following activities in Rocinha and holding the government accountable for the many development practices and policies affecting these three bordering neighborhoods.  The Board has legislative deliberating powers through two previously selected coordinators. There were more than 60 people at the meeting, with representatives from all three neighborhoods – although roughly 80% were from Rocinha. There are eight thematic groups that make up the Community Board – Education, Health, Sports and Leisure, Urbanism and the Environment, Work and Income, Communications, Tourism. The following institutions and entities were present – Firjan, UPP Social, Viva Rio, Sebrae, Rio’s Secretary for Human Rights from the 27th Administrative Region, Instituto Embelleze, Cras Rinaldo Delamare, Fundação Bento Rubião, Complexo Esportivo da Rocinha, Instituto Reação, Hotel Windsor, Escritório de Arquitetura Toledo, The Municipal Director of the Secretary for Social Service and a couple dozen others. Andrea Gouvêa, the City Council Women (PSDB) representing Gávea was there, as well as Ruben César, the founder and director of the mega NGO – Viva Rio. Everyone was adding their two-cents on the recent events involving the expulsion of the drug traffickers and the installation of the UPP.

Carlos Luis Toledo - second from right

The most important person present (in regards to Rocinha’s major infrastructure development since 2004) was Carlos Luis Toledo, henceforth Toledo. Toledo is a well-known architect who has been active in Rocinha since the 1980s, but particularly so as of 2004. After Rocinha’s Three Day War in April of 2004 (when the controlling drug faction switch from the CV to the ADA) Toledo, alongside dozens of residents from Rocinha and São Conrado, created the crucial but barely known “Socio-Spatial Master Plan for the Sustainable Development of Rocinha.” Toledo is a highly gifted urban planner, but he is also humble and humorous, and literally beloved in Rocinha. The original Master Plan considered everything from the infrastructure to culture to the essential socioeconomic needs of the community. It is a wonderful document(s). In reality the Master Plan exists in a various formats and similar versions, but the original version was well over 1000 pages. VIEW A PRESENTATION SLIDE SHOW OF THE MASTER PLAN HERE

Up until 2006 it seemed that the Master Plan, with the full scale participation of local residents, would redefine Rocinha is very positive ways.

Toledo in Rocinha, 2006, working on the Master Plan

Toledo (at the table) in Rocinha 2006, a firm believer in participatory planning. Here he is working with the community in the development of PAC 1

Problems began to emerge when the state government, under then candidate for Governor, Sérgio Cabral caught whiff of this now classic document. The Master Plan soon became a pivotal aspect of his 2006 electoral campaign. The original Master Plan is considerably different than what the state government ended up implementing in the community. The reasons for this are complex, but the initial 60 or 70 million the federal and state governments had pledged to Rocinha quickly dried up. By 2007 Cabral was governor and all of the funds for the Master Plan were used. This is when the Federal Government really got involved and when PAC 1 in Rocinha was born. It is crucial to understand that PAC 1 in Rocinha, as well as the PAC 1 slum upgrading programs in Complexo do Alemão and Manguinhos, were born out of Rocinha’s Master Plan – which residents crafted with Toledo after the Three Day War in 2004.

PAC 1 soon became a key political tool for Cabral to guarantee his reelection in 2010, a process he began as early as 2008. The federal government had now officially launched PAC in Rocinha, with a budget of close to R$ 300 million, or about $ 170 million dollars. PAC 1 (then simply known as PAC because there was no PAC 2) became equally important for Lula, or rather his protégé President Dilma Rousseff.

Toledo's PAC I included a full scale hospital (pictured here) - not a semi functional UPA which was finally built in 2010

By 2007 Toledo had also been asked to design the PAC 1 slum upgrading plans for Complexo do Alemão and Manguinhos. He declined the offer. Toledo told Mundo Real in an interview that working in Rocinha was already approaching a work overload and he wanted to dedicate himself entirely to one project. To make a long story short, the hundreds of people in Rocinha, São Conrado and Gávea, who were integral to the original Master Plan, are very disillusioned with the results. Why has PAC 1 been a disappointment to so many of the residents and outsiders active in community development in Rocinha? To begin with, the previously omnipresent drug trade and the HIGHLY corrupt Resident’s Association certainly interfered in negative ways. Despite the local level corruption, the state government of Rio de Janeiro also made short cuts, cost cuts and significant changes to the original Master Plan. Just to name a couple crucial changes, the original Master Plan included a full scale hospital (see photo above) and not a semi-functional UPA (a mini-hospital that is a mere step up from a community health clinic). Another significant difference is that the original Master Plan also included very specific objectives for the Laboriaux section of Rocinha. The original Master Plan did not call for the eviction of Laboriaux but instead would have transferred dozens of Laboriaux’s residents from areas at risk (of landslide and other natural disasters) to new housing complexes that were to be built in safer areas of Laboriaux.   Also included for Laboriaux were drainage, sewage and slope infrastructure plans. Under the modified PAC 1 plans NOT A SINGLE PROJECT was implemented in Laboriaux. To be fair, improvements were made in Rocinha as a result of PAC 1, but not nearly to the degree or in the participatory way residents and civil society had hoped for. The UPA, for the most part, has been a positive thing for the community. Widening Rua Quatro was fundamental – although to cut costs the state (EMOP) decided to widen the side of the once narrow alleyway that least needed to be altered. The much more critical side of Rua Quatro remains cramped and damp and Tuberculosis is still rampant. Despite the cost cutting and corrupt politics, the widening of Rua Quatro has been a positive thing for Rocinha.

It is important to recall that since 2004 there have been significant changes in the government’s ‘handling’ of Rocinha, and other favelas (especially in Rio de Janeiro). The reasons for this are multifaceted and contentious. Some believe that this new and serious focus on urban poverty and violence, especially in Rio de Janeiro, is a result of the progressive policies/programs that began with Lula, and continue with Dilma, and which have focused significantly more on tackling poverty, inequality and violence. Critics often counter that this is all mainly a façade, not much more than large scale clientelism along with publicity stunts to make Brazil, and especially Rio, look good in light of the string of large and lucrative sporting events that began in 2007 with the Pan American Games, and will continue up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. The truth is probably somewhere in-between. One thing is certain, however, there is much more money available in Brazil for development projects and programs than there was in the past, even a decade ago. Some of this is purely luck (such as the discovery of massive offshore oil reserves) and some is a result of good fiscal, socioeconomic and other public policies. The amount of public money freed up for development in Rocinha since 2007 has now surpassed 1 billion reais, or over six hundred million US dollars. This is an incredible and previously unheard of amount of public money allocated to a single favela community. The development resources have been largely freed up by the federal government, followed by the state government, and lastly the City of Rio de Janeiro. It would not be fair to Rocinha’s residents to suggest that this all of this money has been invested in the community because millions have disappeared.

Of the roughly 280 million promised from (PAC 1) literally millions have vanished while the projects still remain about 35% unfinished.

On Thursday night Toledo had a lot to say. He voiced his concern and sadness regarding how PAC 1 remains was unfinished, despite the fact that the R$ 280 million was completely used up while 35% remains incomplete. PAC 2 is soon to start. Toledo addressed the Master Plan and the difficulty in implanting Rocinha’s PEU, or Project for Urban Structuring (see http://www2.rio.rj.gov.br/smu/paginas/peu.asp). A PEU is a set of official rules that are governed by policies and practices established to guide the physical development of bordering urban neighborhoods so that they share similar characteristics. This is a way, in theory, of reducing inequality because if a PEU was successfully completed in favela community like Rocinha it would mean that Rocinha would have to share similar physical characteristics to its affluent neighbors in São Conrado and Gávea. Rocinha’s PEU was a fundamental part of the Master Plan. Toledo also spoke of the teleférico (cable car lift) that will soon begin construction in Rocinha, which in his view is being built for tourists not for residents. Toledo explained that the company supplying the parts is French and all the parts will have to been imported from France.

He was adamant about his opposition to the Teleférico, which he said would consume the majority of over 700 million destined for PAC 2.

He also said that it would require that thousands of residents be displaced during its construction and later for its maintenance. He said that the massive costs of the Teleférico could be better used for finishing some of the PAC 1 projects that remain incomplete and for other cultural and social activities.

Long time community activist Seu Martins agreed. He said “We cannot lose sight of the greater struggle; we cannot let the UPP distract us from all the other fundamental changes taking place in and around Rocinha.” This came just a few days after mayor Eduardo Paes spoke of, for the first time in over a year, evicting half of Laboriaux’s residents. On Monday, one day after BOPE invaded Rocinha, Paes promised that 120 houses (affecting about 500 people) would be removed from Laboriaux. Residents were dumbfounded. What convenient timing! When Bruno Ramos, the district mayor of Zona Sul was contacted he confirmed that the entire side of Laboriaux facing Gávea and Lagoa will be evicted and demolished. This includes the house I rent. This goes completely against what the City has been saying for the last year, that they would only remove a few more houses in areas of extreme risk and start building slope retaining walls in all other necessary areas.

Threatening to remove one side of Laboriaux is a very strategic tactic to divide the community. We believe that it is highly likely that if one side of Laboriaux is removed that it won’t be long before the other side is also evicted.

Listen to an interview with Toledo from 2008 (ar2com)

It is important to keep in mind that the incursion and occupation that began last Sunday was merely the beginning of a real world experiment in public security and development policy – not to mention the start of Rocinha’s most intense era of real-estate speculation.

Colonel Alonso of the BOPE addresses the crowd in Rocinha

Before going into much analysis there are a few matter-of-fact updates worth mentioning. On Wednesday the 16^th there was a community meeting that was held in a popular sports facility located at the top of Rocinha, known here as the “Quadra da Rua Um” BOPE Colonel René Alonso was the primary organizer of the meeting which also included vice-governor of Rio de Janeiro, Luiz Fernando de Souza, commonly known as Pezão (big feet) because he supposedly has huge feet). Pezão is also Rio’s secretary of Works and Interior Development. He has played a significant role in many of the development initiatives taking place in Rocinha since 2007. To be fair to residents, the event wasn’t really a meeting, it was more of a government orientation speech, because there were no opportunities for residents to provide feedback or voice their concerns. The newspapers mentioned that there were around 500 people present but anyone who was there knows that more 1000 were in attendance. Colonel Alonso was very congenial and he was applauded several times, especially when he made it clear that the BOPE and the upcoming UPP are not there because of the gangsters, but for the regular residents, who he

The first meeting with residents after the police invasion in Rocinha

suggested have been trapped in a narco-dictatorship for decades. He affirmed that the police are here in Rocinha to defend order, democracy and the human rights of everyday residents. This point was loudly applauded. He also asked for Rocinha’s help in the ‘pacification’ process. He expressed that the state’s work would be futile without the participation of the community. Colonel Alonso confirmed that there is no official curfew in place and all legal activities should continue as usual. He even said that the notorious baile funks – that are a fundamental aspect of Rocinha’s youth culture – can continue as long as they obey the law, as in having all the proper permits and safety measure in order.

Vice-governor Pezão

Vice-governor Pezão made countless pledges to residents, and basically went out of his way to guarantee that this time the governments promises would be fulfill. He said that R$ 51 million, about $29 million US dollars, had already been set aside for UPP related infrastructure and development projects. Among other important promises, he mentioned that the government was already working on the process of providing property titles to four thousand families (roughly 15 thousand people) in Rocinha, so they can ‘legally’ remain in their homes. While this is promising news it makes me wonder about the legal housing rights of the other 135,000 people living in Rocinha and how the state will treat them? (See the posting on the most recent São Conrado, Rocinha and Gávea’s Community Board Meeting for more on this and other developments in Rocinha).

The first meeting with the BOPE was a very important issue for the hundreds of motoqueiros in the community of Rocinha - seen here on the "rampa" going up to Laboriaux

Interestingly, a noteworthy chunk of the speech focused on Rocinha’s roughly 2000 motorcyclists. Several hundred of them are employed in Rocinha 24 hour a day motorcycle taxi industry (mototáxi). He pledged that the mototáxis would no longer have to pay fees to corrupt cooperatives and resident’s associations, or other bribes that depleted significant amounts of their salary. Of course, he mentioned that the mototáxi service would be regulated and needed to follow all the laws. From now on no children will be allowed to ride the motorcycles (by themselves or as passengers). This news has many parents frustrated, especially those who live in places like Trampolim, Vila Verde, Cachopa, Dionéia, Rua Dois and Laboriaux (where roughly 1/3 of Rocinha’s population lives) and where other forms of transportation are scarce or nonexistent. One young mother, Adriana, a resident of Laboriaux, complained that after nine hours of hard work, six days a week, it is going to be a real hassle to have to hike up the almost vertical one mile long road to her house carrying her three year old son who is not strong enough to walk the steep incline by himself. Everyone riding a mototáxi in Rocinha will now have to wear a helmet, a habit that was very rare in the past. Colonel Alonso said the DETRAN, Brazil’s DMV, will set up shop in Rocinha to make sure people are qualified and licensed to ride motorcycles. Rocinha was among the first places in Brazil to utilize, a mass scale, motorcycle for public transportation, and this is likely traceable to the fact that the Brazil birthplace of the mototáxi business was the northeastern state Ceará where approximately 60% of Rocinha residents can trace their roots. Today the service is fundamental to Rocinha’s public transportation and economy. In any given week the mototáxi industry employees over 1000 cyclists, or motoqueiros, dozens who travel from other communities to work in Rocinha, ‘the favela that never sleeps.’

Colonel Alonso and Pezão also made reference to universities that would be opening in Rocinha. If this does occur, it is likely they will be centers for distance learning because of the lack of space for actual universities in Rocinha. Either way, it would be nice to actually have a high school, or a few of them, in Rocinha before there are any universities. Most of what they spoke about is in the papers but the brunt of the message is that ‘peace’, ‘order’ and ‘opportunity’ have come to Rocinha.

Now a little analysis is necessary. Mundo Real prefers to view this entire UPP ordeal through the lens of development. Rocinha is fascinating story of development and underdevelopment. The community emerged in the first place for numerous complex reasons that this update doesn’t aim to describe in too much detail. The factors that contributed to the origin and evolution of Rocinha, up until recent UPP ordeal, can be traced to a historic blend of public policy (or lack-there-of), civil society activity and the free market. A very quick summary points to a few fundamental causes; such as,

1. Brazil’s historic lack of a meaningful rural development agenda,
2. Significant regional inequality between the northeast and southeast of Brazil that pushed thousands of migrants to Rio de Janeiro’s favelas,
3. The absence of any serious urban housing plans,
4. Enormous socioeconomic inequality between social classes and races,
5. Two decades of a military dictatorship that considerably eroded the already modest trust that previously existed in government, politicians and their public security apparatus,
6. Rocinha’s highly strategic location situated between the affluent Zona Sul and Zona Oeste (which has grown exponentially since the 1980s) which continued to attract poor migrants to work in the thriving nearby construction and service sectors,
7. The communities proximity to Rio’s tourism and media industries,
8. Decades of across-the-spectrum government abandonment of Rocinha,
9. … and in light of the utter absence of government the ensuing total domination of the community by drug traffickers since the early 1980s.

These are the main contributing factors, in no particular order, that have caused Rocinha to develop as it has.

The UPP is merely the most recent ‘development’ policy/program affecting Rocinha. While the UPP is one the most important interventions, there have been new development initiatives announced nearly every month for Rocinha since 2007. This ‘age of development’ is dizzying. There are several meetings everyday on fundamental issues that are, and soon will, affect Rocinha. Regrettably, there are so many meetings and conferences that only the ‘professional meeting goers’ are able to attend most of them. Many of these people who attend meetings for a living are also the people who shouldn’t necessarily be granted too much trust with valuable information and resources. The result is that everyday residents are usually left in the dark about most issues until they have already been decided upon. Mundo Real and its growing network in Rocinha, attend as many meetings as possible, but often it is not feasible for those of us who have to work and study and have families to take care of.

The current police operations have already cost millions and will cost hundreds of millions more once the state’s official UPP is established sometime in early 2012 and also once the City’s UPP Social program is fully implemented here (www.uppsocial.com.br). It hasn’t even been mentioned herein that the PAC II development program is going to cost over R$ 700 million, and most of this, according to experts (like Luiz Carlos Toledo), will go into constructing an elaborate cable car (teleférico) across Rocinha that will be very similar to what was recently built in Complexo do Alemão.

The Battalion of Special Forces in Rocinha with their flag behind them. The ironic placement of the white flag next to it reads "I support Peace" with the UPP acronym placed in the phrase.

Increasingly, this ‘pacification’ process is feeling surreal and difficult to comprehend. The very terminologies and jargons being used are perplexing. What is a “shock of peace” after all? I for one have never been ‘shocked’ into a peaceful state of being. Also, what does it mean when policemen armed to their teeth and decked out in warfare outfits – whose coat of arms is the symbol of an evil looking skull being stabbed through the cranium with a huge dagger and with two pistols positioned behind it – are also carrying banners and flags that read “I support Peace” or “We are here to pacify your community”? The once heavily armed gangsters have been replaced with even more heavily armed police (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugw1Z6eSmnY). The photos below sum up much of irony inherent in this age of ‘pacification.’

Despite the irony and exaggerations of force, the majority of Rocinha residents are satisfied, so far.

Rocinha has become more orderly and less noisy since last Sunday, and most people are enjoying this. Complaints of police abuse have been few. There have been a couple dozen complaints, but most have been as a result of BOPE officers entering into resident’s houses when they are not home. There have been even fewer reports of violent abuses. There have been a few, and while they need to be taken VERY seriously, it is also important to remember that there is still a small segment of Rocinha’s population who do not want the UPP here and who despise police and some residents are willing to invent stories to get in the way this process. For this reason all cases of abuse need to be taken serious and investigated thoroughly. The few cases of abuse have been slowly increasing as the media begins to move onto other stories and leave Rocinha. This has some residents worried that as the media’s cameras leave the community the BOPE will begin mistreating Rocinha’s residents in much the same way they did over the last couple decades. So far this hasn’t been the case, but it is an issue to keep in mind.