Brazil: Struggle in the Complexo da Maré

Featured image: police entering the favela; Source: A Nova Democracia

On the morning of August 19, residents of the Complexo da Maré, Rio de Janeiro, revolted against the carrying out of an eviction operation by the Military Police. The police destroyed an entire residential complex. It was the 24th police operation in Complexo da Maré in 2024 alone. Police operations were also recorded in Morro do Urubu and Morro do Quitungo, both in the North of Rio de Janeiro.

The police began entering the favelas Nova Holanda and Parque União in the very early morning hours and soon began the eviction operation. Denouncing this as another episode of police violence in the community disguised as a “struggle against drug trafficking”, workers held a demonstration, closing Avenue Brigadeiro Trompowski and setting up barricades, burning tires and other stuff. As a result, the Linha Vermelha (one of the city’s main roads) came to a standstill.

The police responded to the demonstration with brutal repression, pushing, beating them with batons and firing rubber bullets. Residents, in return, were not intimidated and clashed with the police, defending their rights to protest against police violence and the arbitrary operations.

Around 900 students from two schools were left without classes, while 24 schools were affected by the police operation. The Jeremias Moraes da Silva Family Clinic suspended operations in the morning and the Diniz Batista dos Santos Family Clinic suspended home visits.

The following day a new police operation was launched, with new consequences for residents, such as dozens of schools closed. Press monopolies played the role of police parrot, slandering that the buildings effected were built by “drug traffickers” to “launder money”. Meanwhile, the military police continue their practice of selling weapons to different lumpen groups. These are also supported by the military which allows the entry of drugs into the neighborhoods.

The third day of consecutive police aggression on August 21 brought eviction actions against residents and reports indicate that the Military Police began breaking walls and ceilings even with residents including children and elderly inside the buildings. That day the MP arrived in the communities of Nova Holanda and Parque União at approximately 5:30 in the morning. The Civil Police arrived in Avenida Brasil.

Residents reported that police officers were stealing the workers’ belongings: “We can’t work because we leave the house and when we come back we won’t find anything. We won’t even find our TV anymore because they’ll take everything! There’s no point in invoice, there’s no point in the shit they’re going to take!” The press monopoly turned a blind eye to the situation of the residents and repeated the same lies as the police, even claiming that the police’s loot were luxuries.

Residents gathered to hold a new protest and closed down Avenida Brasil, towards Campo Grande, but the demonstration was quickly attacked by the Military Police who deprived residents of yet another fundamental right. The community’s moto-taxi drivers gathered and honked their horns as a way of demonstrating their anger against the old State’s attacks on the community.

The communities of Nova Holanda and Parque União on August 22nd were confronted with the fourth day of Military Police operations in conjunction with the Civil Police and the Public Order Secretariat (Seop). Police violence was still preventing schools from operating, affecting health services and causing major losses to local businesses.

These eviction actions are part of a historic crisis in Brazilian housing, worsened after the end of the pandemic. According to a survey more than 1.5 million people were affected by evictions and forced removals overall between October 2022 and July 2024. More than 4,939 families in Rio were evicted and at least 5,798 were threatened with eviction. It is the workers and their children who are most affected by the attack. Homeless is growing, in 2022, there was an increase of 8.5% compared to 2020.