This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/09/brazil-demolishes-home-of-slum-resident-fighting-eviction-over-olympic-development

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Brazil demolishes home of slum resident fighting eviction over Olympic development Brazil: home of favela resident fighting eviction over Olympics razed
(about 5 hours later)
Authorities have bulldozed the house of a Rio woman whose fight to stay in her home near the city’s Olympic Park came to symbolize the fight between the city and residents of the Vila Autodromo favela. One of the doughtiest campaigners against the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro watched as her home was bulldozed on Tuesday, sparking small protests in her neighbourhood and the city centre.
A court order authorizing the demolition had been issued last week, and talks between the city and Maria da Penha, an unofficial spokeswoman for families that refused to leave the slum, broke down over the weekend. In recent years, Maria da Penha has become a prominent figure in the Vila Autódromo community, which has been decimated to make way for the gymnasiums, pools, arenas and other facilities that will be the focus of the world’s attention when the sporting mega-event opens on 5 August.
Related: Forced evictions in Rio favela for 2016 Olympics trigger violent clashesRelated: Forced evictions in Rio favela for 2016 Olympics trigger violent clashes
Residents and activists gathered outside the state parliament building downtown to protest the move as Rio de Janeiro’s mayor held a news conference promising that those wishing to stay in the area would be allowed to do so. After resisting longer than most, her home was brought down by a demolition team that drove in soon after dawn from the neighbouring Olympic site.
Mayor Eduardo Paes set out his plans to resettle families who were holding out in new housing units on the same site in time for the start of the Olympic Games on 5 August. Images on the community’s Facebook page show an earthmover pulling and pushing down the walls of the building which were sprayed with defiant slogans affirming Vila Autodromo as “a legitimate community”. Municipal guards were on hand to prevent residents from holding back the Olympic developers.
Residents of Vila Autodromo expressed skepticism about the proposal, which differs substantially from a plan put forward by the community itself last week. Supporters at the site and on social networks highlighted the fact that the demolition took place on International Women’s Day and only hours before Penha was due to receive an award from the state legislature for her defence of home and community.
The favela originally was home to 700 families, and most left under pressure from the city or for offers of compensation or resettlement in a nearby housing complex. Activists say about 50 families remain, but the mayor’s office says the number is closer to 30. Later in the day, Penha joined a protest in the city centre. Demonstrators outside the legislature carried banners saying: “The mayor reveals his policy towards women today: Violence” and “The women of Vila Autodromo show us how to fight.” According to the @Rioonwatchlive Twitter account, women’s groups joined in a chant of “We are all Dona Penha.”
Most of the properties in the area have been bulldozed. Those still living there say they have only sporadic access to electricity and running water, and charge that they are being intimidated into leaving by representatives of the city. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes defended the government’s actions, saying Penha’s home was among those that had to be demolished because they were blocking an access road into the site. He outlined plans to upgrade Vila Autódromo, and build schools in the area. He said Penha and other residents would be offered free housing in the community after the improvements were finished. An aide said the mayor met Penha in recent days to discuss these plans.
Related: Zika crisis and economic woes bring gloom to Brazil's Olympic buildupRelated: Zika crisis and economic woes bring gloom to Brazil's Olympic buildup
Much of Olympic Park is due to be transformed into housing developments after the Games, and Paes told reporters the city plans to build 32 new homes for families still living in the favela. He said the homes would be built in that area at a cost of cost 3m to 3.5m reais ($800,000 to $930,000). Until now, Penha and other residents have been sceptical of the government’s promises. They believe they should never have been forced to move and suspect the Olympics is being used to drive poorer communities from an area that has been targeted by developers for upscale compounds. These fears were strengthened last year, when one of the major local landowners, Carlos Carvalho - who was also a major donor to mayor Paes election campaign and part of the consortium building the Athletes Village and other Olympic facilities - said he wanted the area to be for the elite.
“We have always said that those who want to stay can stay,” the mayor said. “We are not going to make victims out of those who are not victims.” First settled illegally in the 1960s and 70s by fishermen and construction workers at the motor racing track that gives the community its name, Vila Autodromo’s residents fought off several earlier efforts to remove them and won legal recognition of their ownership. Until the start of the Olympic project, it was home to almost 600 families, but the vast majority have now left.
The holdouts have been resisting demolition for more than four years and have on various occasions blocked streets and petitioned the authorities. But their numbers have steadily dwindled. Some accepted compensation or alternative housing. Others have been removed by force, sometimes with bloody consequences.