This piece is based on participant observation (mainly in Rocinha), authorized recorded interviews, literature reviews, etc.… No names or compromising details will be disclosed. Well, it is official, the teleférico (air tramway) is coming to Rocinha very soon, at least the work will begin soon. Actually it has been official for some time now, but…
A Rocinha desde sua existência enfrenta problemas como queda de encostas, enchentes na parte baixa, e por conseqüência bairros vizinhos sofrem com a falta de canalização correta do esgoto e drenagem pluvial decorrente do abandono pelo poder público, que até início dos anos oitenta consentia apenas a entrada da repressão através da polícia. Em determinado…
Mundo Real is currently facing increased demands and challenges of the real world – work, school, family, and simply life itself, has made it impossible for us to continue to update our website. We are still active in Rocinha and elsewhere, but we do not have time to maintain our website. We hope that we…
The city of Rio de Janeiro spends R$ 377 million (215 million USD) in order for resident’s of a wealthy area of Ipanema to remain where they live while a major infrastructure project is completed around, and under them. At the same time, and hypocritically, the City is removing at will, and arbitrarily, dozens of…
There’s an ambitious government programme underway in one of Rio de Janeiro’s biggest slums, or favelas. The aim is to clear Rocinha – home to over 100,000 people – of the drugs gangs that have dominated there for decades. The strategy, known as ‘pacification’, begins with a raid by Brazilian elite forces to drive out…
After the police occupation in November of 2011, rent has increased by 30% The occupation of Rocinha by security forces has put the community in focus. Conveniently located in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro, close to the beach and overlooking the ocean, peace should be cause for celebration for the residents, but instead it has…
On February 7th eleven residents of Laboriaux participated in an important meeting/reading with Dr. Francisco Horta Filho to study the Municipal DECREE (DECRETO) N°34522, published on the 3rd of OCTOBER of 2011. Francisco Horta Filho is the new coordenador of the Núcleo de Terras e Habitação (Nuth), or the Nucleus for Land and Housing, of the Defensoria Pública do Estado do Rio…
For their participation in these reports, Paul Sneed and the Back|Story team would like to thank religious leader Pai Almir who lives in the favela Rocinha. Also a big thank you to Viviana Rodrigues who is a teacher in Rocinha and co-founder of 2bros.org. A big thank you, as well, to Sergi Navarro-Rivero, a Harvard…
On Friday December 2, 2011 a pivotal event occurred in Rocinha — a well known ‘community leader/politician’ was arrested for associating with drug traffickers. Anyone who watches the news in Brazil and especially Rio de Janeiro knows who we are referring to. The point of this posting is not to go into details about this…
