About two hundred men, women, and children —representatives from several communities — gathered in front of City Hall with t-shirts, signs, protest songs, and elected speakers who took their turn in front of the megaphone.

Why? The City Department of Housing has officially announced that 119 entire favela communities, totaling at least 12,196 homes, will be removed by 2012. The city cites reasons of “risk” to justify their removal. According to the officials, “risk” means that these communities exist in places prone to flooding, landslides, or overall need for environmental protection.

However, not all of the communities threatened with removal are at risk. One such community is Vila Autódromo, whose only crime is existing in the very location where the city plans to build the Olympic Training and Media Centers. People do not want to go!

The argument is sound. If there is no environmental risk and if the community is safe and law abiding, the residents feel as if the city is simply cleaning up their city to make way for international tourists who are expected to flock in record numbers for the Olympic Games and World Cup. Residents feel like the city is once again trying to displace and exploit the voiceless poor because their houses aren’t pretty. Instead of helping them upgrade, the city wants them gone.

After years, and in some cases decades, of residence in these locations, where are they expected to go? One protest sign asked just that. Other signs read:

“There is so much vacant space is Rio, why displace us?”

“We’re asking for respect!”

“Say no to removal, Cariocas against social segregation!”

“Removal is a social crime!”

“We’re Rio’s chance to show that we have serious policy — Urbanization”

“Why do our news media give voice to the City and not the Community?”

Despite the peaceful and very orderly protest, City Hall closed its gates which, apparently, are always open to the public. In fact, I had walked through those very gates on my way to the protest just a few hours earlier.

In the end, a small handful of community leaders and journalists whose names were on a list were allowed past the gates of city hall to talk with the city officials. I personally hope for successful negotiations.

Jamie Worms is currently a volunteer with Catalytic Communities and Calle. To learn more about favelas and life in Rio de Janeiro, check out some of Jamie’s past posts.

Flash mob - Rio

On September 21, I participated in my first protest ever, locally called, Cariocas Ligando para o Clima (Cariocas Calling for the Climate). This protest was a global climate wake-up call organized by Avaaz and the TckTckTck campaign.

The purpose of the protest, dubbed a “flash mob,” was to inform the public and encourage our elected leaders to participate in the climate conference in Copenhagen scheduled for December this year. The climate conference will attempt to revise and improve the Kyoto Protocol which is set to expire in 2012. Currently, the Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty legally recognizing the commitment to reduce greenhouse gasses and other gasses emitted by industrialized nations.

At 12:18 p.m. (also the date of the final day of the conference), cities from around the world protested. I met with approximately 25 others, in the rain, on the steps of the city council in Cinelândia, Rio de Janeiro. Together we called Presidente Lula (Luiz Ignacio Da Silva), asking him to attend and to sign a new treaty that is fair, ambitious, and binding.

Caling for the climate

The significance of the event hadn’t sunk in until I got home and uploaded my pictures of the event on the website. As the site updated, there was a *ding* with every additional photo and comment. The noise was constant. It wasn’t just our protest. We weren’t even the only group to protest in Rio or in Brazil! There were several other protest groups ranging in size from one person to groups of more than 50. Photos were coming in from ALL over the world (Sweden, China, and Germany are my personal favorites). Check them out by clicking on the highlighted links below:

Phone numbers

Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, England, Australia, Tahiti, Italy, The United States, Portugal, Germany, Iceland, France, South Africa, Spain, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden, Scotland, Bolivia, Denmark, Norway, India, Israel, Lebanon, Belgium, Panama, Hungary, Austria, The Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Slovenia, Romania, Kenya, Ireland, New Zealand, and China.

All in all, there were approximately 2200 locations registered in 128 countries. People took to the streets, train stations, metro stations, parks, schools, libraries, art galleries, and government buildings. The undertaking was massive, the turnout  impressive, and the protest incredibly simple in design.

Even though our group was not able to talk with the President himself, others were able to leave a message. Our message was the following: This is your wake-up call! Acorda! The time to do something about global climate change is now!