Brazil: Police Operation evicts the Headquarters of the Housing Collective in João Pessoa
We share an unofficial translation of an article by A Nova Democracia
A police operation evicted, on 9th of May, the headquarters of the housing struggle collective Nosso Lugar in Gramame, in Barra do Gramame, the southernmost part of João Pessoa. The action involved a riot police unit from the Military Police, the Municipal Guard, and the Firefighters Department. Activists occupied the land five years ago, which had been abandoned since 1987, to organize the local population.
The collective engages in activities related to environmental education, popular culture, and the fight for housing, participating in the resistance against eviction actions, as happened in 2023 in the peasant settlement Margarida Maria Alves, in Praia do Sol, also in the capital of Paraíba.
According to the organization, Valdiney Gouveia, former rector of UFPB appointed by former president Jair Bolsonaro, requested the eviction at the beginning of 2025, claiming that the land belongs to his father, despite the location being abandoned for almost 40 years. The judiciary set a five-day deadline for eviction and sent an extensive police apparatus. Valdiney himself was present at the eviction, accompanied by former vice-mayoral candidate Sérgio Queiroz.
The operation took place in the context of the expansion of the real estate market in the city with the support of the city hall and the municipal chamber. The New Master Plan, approved in December 2023, changed the classification of the area from rural to urban, despite the neighborhood being traditionally occupied by fishermen and peasants. The collective reported to the Committee that, since then, the population has been constantly threatened. “There have been reports of forced evictions and threats with firearms by armed men. Residents have reported cases of physical and psychological violence, as well as the destruction of homes and threats to bricklayers working on the reconstruction of one of the demolished houses.”
This process is related to the increase in property prices caused by real estate speculation. The city recorded the second highest increase in property prices in the country between 2023 and 2024, according to FipZAP. This is triggering population displacement, with the poorer layers being gradually pushed to more distant and cheaper areas. An emblematic case of this phenomenon occurred in a neighboring neighborhood, Gramame, which in the last ten years has recorded a population growth of 400%, becoming the second largest neighborhood in Paraíba.
