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…
From November 28th to the 30th there was a series of presentations and meetings held at headquarters of CREA-RJ in the center of Rio de Janeiro. The three day event was organized by The City of Rio de Janeiro, the Secretary for Housing of Rio de Janeiro and the NGO Fundação Bento Rubião (henceforth FBR). The point…
It has been a week since the state government’s ‘pacification’ process began in Rocinha – on the 13th of November. The constant coverage and sensationalism are quickly becoming repetitive and they are distracting from more important issues here in Rocinha and elsewhere in Rio. It is important to keep in mind that the incursion and…
Rocinha was officially ‘occupied’ during the early morning hours of Sunday, November 13th. This was only the first phase of the state’s ‘pacification’ process. Authorities have been promising that Rocinha would received a UPP since 2009, and for various nuanced reasons it took a long time to occur. There are countless angles in which this…
( a brief on organized crime and security policy in Rocinha. ) Mundo Real’s home community of Rocinha has entered a defining moment in its almost 90 year history. But before continuing it is worth mentioning that organized crime and security policy are very sensitive issues in Rocinha, and for us, a small community-based organization…
Reimont Luiz Otoni Santa Bárbara, aka Vereador Reimont visited Rocinha on 5/28/2011 to register complaints about the progress of the government development project PAC. The first stage, known as PAC I, has seen many of its projects come to a hault, remain incomplete, or suffer from various infrastructure problems. Residents and local leaders walked the community and looked at all…
The community of Laboriaux, at the very highest section of Rocinha, has been one of the many communities found in the cross hairs of the city wide removals. Though Laboriaux has found itself in this precarious situation residents have seemingly left the process to handle itself. The city has not been open and forthright with…
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