photographer Tuca Vieira captured the image of the Paraisópolis favela next to its wealthy neighbour that came to symbolise the gap between São Paulo’s rich and poor How did you come to take this photo?I took the photo for the Folha de São Paulo newspaper for a special report on the 450th anniversary of São Paulo in 2004 It was taken from a helicopter following a suggestion by my colleague Marlene Bergamo What does the photo show, in your opinion?It is clearly an illustration of social inequality, maybe the biggest problem for Brazil and Latin America The unjust and brutal difference between rich and poor is in the origin of many other problems – violence Inequality means that someone who is poorer is obliged to work more they are not able to develop the critical and political awareness necessary to transform their own situation Add to this the absence of any sense of the collective responsibility or solidarity among the privileged in Brazil and you have a closed circle that is very difficult to break I am happy to have taken a photograph that expresses this problem and has acquired importance especially in view of the immense quantity of photographs that we produce today customers can get their Amazon packages quickly thanks to a logistics network that relies on AI and ML to deliver to these vulnerable communities—places where most online retailers don’t offer package delivery Get an inside look at how we’re expanding our drone delivery program, integrating new robotic systems, and reducing packaging waste. Amazon.comConditions of UseAmazon Privacy Policy© 1996-2025 Amazon.com Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information Sao Paulo’s second largest favela, sits next door to one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods, Morumbi In a neighborhood where social distancing is almost impossible Paraisopolis is using creativity and organization to combat the coronavirus military-style police operations against drug traffickers -- they now struggle to embrace social distancing guidelines while living side-by-side in haphazard constructions and crowded homes.Yet residents of Paraisopolis have come up with a plan to combat the coronavirus with little government help Their campaign involves a number of actions made possible by donations and volunteer work from 10,000 free meals to private ambulances to a grid system of volunteer “street presidents,” who check to make sure everyone on their street is OK They have dedicated one building as a quarantine house and they are turning closed schools into centers where residents who are unable to self-isolate can come to sleep Workers paint the facades of residences in the Paraisopolis favela as part of the community’s centennial celebration home to tens of thousands of residents in the country’s largest and wealthiest city Paraisopolis is grappling with crime and a pandemic that have challenged daily life for many who live there but organizers say its people have built a vibrant community and are launching a 10-day celebration of its achievements as children sit on a bench during the community’s centennial celebration Street food vendor Mila Veloso walks through an alley in the Paraisopolis favela during the community’s centennial celebration A resident is framed by laundry hanging out to dry in the Paraisopolis favela Policemen patrol in the Paraisopolis favela Musicians residents in the Paraisopolis favela as a child plays in the foreground during the community’s centennial celebration SAO PAULO (AP) — Dozens of children lined up at a community center in Sao Paulo for a slice of creamy None was celebrating a birthday; their poor neighborhood “People started coming (to the city) for construction jobs and settled in,” community leader Gilson Rodrigues said underscores the permanence of its roots and of other communities like it even as Brazilians in wealthier parts of town often view them as temporary and precarious Favelas struggle to shed that stigma as they defy simple definition not least because they evolved over decades today Paraisopolis is nestled in the midst of urban sprawl Its population began expanding after a 1942 law froze rent prices Absent action from authorities to provide housing a professor at the University of Sao Paulo’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning Unpainted brick homes densely pack Paraisopolis’ 10 square kilometers (3.9 square miles) an area threaded with serpentine alleys where youngsters can be found playing soccer or listening to loud music on weekends Most streets are now paved and internet connections work well but newer areas of the favela lack infrastructure like sewage systems squatter settlements in the back half of the 19th century Their residents generate $7 billion in annual economic activity and many are technically middle class While activists and academics use “favela,” some residents prefer “community.” “I understand the movement that came from some favelas’ leaders and residents themselves to use ‘community’ to free themselves from the stigma,” said Adauto Cardoso a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s urban planning institute “The stigma is rather complicated in a society that is very prejudiced.” “Many favelas have museums today,” he said “Residents say: ‘We want to tell our story; we want to say that this is not some spontaneous housing that was born out of nowhere.’” obscure or demolish favelas now accept the neighborhoods are fixtures Dressed in a suit reserved for special occasions Paraisopolis community leader Rodrigues had tears welling as he cut the 100th anniversary cake He said he’s always thought of Paraisopolis as his neighborhood despite the open sewage in some areas and other difficulties we’ve taken these challenges and transformed them into opportunities AP journalist Diane Jeantet reported from Rio AP videojournalist Tatiana Pollastri contributed from Sao Paulo SAO PAULO (AP) — Workers in Brazil’s biggest city unloaded an air fryer a gaming chair and a 40-inch television from a truck and carried them into a small distribution center where they'd soon be sent to nearby homes Their speedy dispatch would be nothing special in most of Sao Paulo But these items were bound for homes in Paraisopolis low-income neighborhoods known as favelas that have been largely left out of the global delivery revolution Packages have just started reaching doorsteps there thanks to a bespectacled 21-year-old with a degree in information technology Inspired by community-led distribution of food kits and donations during the pandemic Giva Pereira founded a logistics startup to handle what retailers call “the last mile” in his hardscrabble community which delivery drivers have been loath to enter Brazilians quarantining during the pandemic started buying more online — not just food and pharmaceuticals But favela residents who fill out order forms with their zip codes are often informed companies don't deliver to their neighborhood Those who manage to place orders can receive excuses rather than products: notes with dubious claims they weren’t home when the delivery came identifying a specific house in the serpentine alleys is no small feat for an outsider especially in favelas as densely populated as Paraisopolis some areas are dominated by heavily armed drug traffickers While Brazil’s postal service delivers letters and bills to some streets in Paraisopolis bars or collective mailboxes for residents to pick up later — a system that doesn’t work for many e-commerce purchases Even brick-and-mortar stores charge more to deliver appliances or furniture to favelas or leave shipments at waypoints like residents’ associations a Paraisopolis resident who graduated college last year and sensed opportunity His fledging company got financing from a small and partnered with one of Brazil’s biggest retailers He hired locals familiar with Paraisopolis’s twists and turns They started deliveries in April using compact trucks and bicycles and have processed as many as 1,300 packages per day “It resolves the problem of mapping and this issue of breaking down the barrier of prejudice among people or logistics companies but don’t,” Pereira told The Associated Press “Bringing companies from outside the favela into the favela totally breaks that paradigm that favelas only have bad things more than 2 million people live in the crowded favelas Paraisopolis has longstanding issues like water shortages and lack of basic sanitation with open sewers in some isolated areas that have been recently populated whose family moved from the poor northeastern state of Paraiba when he was 12 “We came because of difficulties we went through in Paraiba He began to think of ways to help the favela His project is reminiscent of another started several years ago in Rio de Janeiro's biggest favela Former census takers mapped the hillside neighborhood and established a base to receive mail from the postal service the company distributes letters and bills to residents though they still have to retrieve parcels While Pereira's concept for deliveries isn’t groundbreaking executive director of a favela advocacy group “Residents find creative ways to meet that need in many communities but it’s never at the scale or quality that it needs to be Favela Brasil XPress “could pave the way for a model that can be followed around the country it could show the government how to step up and meet the community's need At an event Tuesday to commemorate delivery of his company’s 100,000th package if somewhat surprised by the sudden success He said the company has set up distribution bases at six other favelas It has signed contracts to distribute for other retailers Paraisopolis’ community leader and president of the bank whose loan got Pereira’s startup off the ground said being able to receive a package at home after so many years of being boxed out provides a sense of freedom “They told us this wasn’t possible in a favela,” Rodrigues said a slap in the face to society that excludes favelas never as potent.” ___ David Biller reported from Rio de Janeiro rewritten or redistributed without permission Thank you for choosing to be part of the Transport for Development community The latest blog posts and blog-related announcements will be delivered directly to your email inbox This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page “The word ‘favela’ has not been heard from any government official,” Gilson Rodrigues said during a Facebook Live in March.  “We need to organize and protect ourselves.” Today, it’s clear Paraisópolis rose to the challenge: The community has 420 volunteers checking on neighbors, a nearby school was retrofitted as a shelter for people to isolate with a degree of space and even a dedicated medical team and ambulances were hired to look after the sick community activists and resident associations have sprung into action to battle the pandemic knowing that waiting for the state to help them may mean a death sentence Not every neighborhood has the resources of Paraisópolis a community of roughly 80,000 people surrounded by some of São Paulo’s wealthiest areas But they have still helped blunt the impact of a pandemic that is now spreading at alarming speed making Brazil one of the hardest-hit places in the world The solutions are often extraordinarily creative with residents creating new apps to battle fake news on COVID-19 – a major problem – or hanging posters with messages like “Would you rather be here or in a cemetery?” in order to encourage social isolation “We answer to the deep gap that exists between the state and our communities,” Isabela Souza, director of Observatório de Favelas “But the speed with which we all organized this time around has been impressive.” “The police and the press only come here if there is a murder or a shootout,” said Jefferson Borges “Urgent! People running out of food is already a reality here!” René Silva Based in the Alemão complex of favelas, with close to 140,000 residents in northern Rio de Janeiro, Silva and other local activists convened a crisis committee activists started collecting donations in kind and cash Dozens of volunteers showed up to prepare baskets with food and cleaning products and then crisscross the maze of stairs and narrow alleys daily to help vulnerable families.  4,800 baskets of food and cleaning supplies 4,600 gallons of water and 177 bottles of alcohol in gel In Santa Marta, a community of 6,000 in Rio’s south zone, Itamar Silva turned his community organization Grupo Eco, which provided summer camp opportunities for the children in the favela “We’re raising funds to provide food and cooking gas for 50 vulnerable families which is what we can afford,” Silva told AQ.  “I get requests for help even from residents of favelas in other states,” Borges said “If they go out to try to sell something on the streets or lessen the cycle of violence to which many favela residents are subjected A recent police operation against drug traffickers left 13 dead and bodies in plain sight on the streets of Alemão complex At another populous neighborhood further north in Rio a resident who didn’t want to be named told AQ the militia in charge didn’t allow residents to organize food drives – and continues to charge them monthly “dues” for protection With no official public health campaign and a barrage of fake news being shared on TV local groups are trying to cut through the noise to keep their fellow neighbors informed a 19-year-old organization founded by first-generation college graduates from Maré Complex has focused on creating social media memes and cards that can be easily shared and replicated with topics like tips to wash hands if you don’t have running water.  “Policy makers and government officials don’t know what reality is like for poor communities so their policies and messages stop short of reaching the most vulnerable,” said Souza Voz das Comunidades created an app dedicated to COVID-19 news and information catered to favela residents “We noticed that the flow of fake news about the virus was increasing,” Silva said “Our whole team is focused on fighting the misinformation that is spreading in favelas.” Yet across the country people are confused on whether to choose the message from their local leaders asking for isolation who consistently downplays the pandemic and urges people to go back to normal life “At first people were staying at home,” Borges told AQ “but then they see the president out and about and they tell me: Why should I stay home if he doesn’t?” Reading Time: 4 minutesTornaghi is a senior director for policy at Americas Society/Council of the Americas and a former managing editor of AQ Americas Quarterly (AQ) is the premier publication on politics We are an independent publication of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas PUBLISHED BY AMERICAS SOCIETY/ COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved Latin American-based payments and digital banking enabler is responsible for the digital banking technology deployed by the bank the first digital bank born within the favela opened its first physical branch on 5 February a favela and the largest squatted informal settlement in São Paulo city The initiative aims to invest in entrepreneurial power and encourage online banking for residents of the Paraisópolis community the branch will complement the digital bank which uses Dock technology and launched in November 2022 “We really believe in the empowerment potential of G10 Bank We decided to open the physical branch to be a point of support for residents CEO of G10 Bank and national president of G10 Favelas the same as used by large Brazilian fintechs and digital banks “G10 Bank is a project fully aligned with Dock’s mission of democratising finance to boost society Access to the financial system is fundamental for the individual’s evolution in today’s society and the generation of wealth increasingly involves financial systems People need to learn how to utilise online banking The physical branch will support access to online banking and its resources These are fundamental for expanding opportunities.” G10 Bank’s online banking is available for both individuals and legal entities A prepaid Visa card will also be available through the account and app One of the purposes of the project is to ensure that investments return to the community 50% of residents operate their own businesses “Our goal is to put the community’s money into circulation and generate value here,” said Antonio Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis Another objective of the institution is to provide credit benefited around 200 entrepreneurs with microcredits totalling BRL1m ($200,200) “The initiative has made it possible to increase these people’s income and stimulate the creation of jobs in the favelas and contribute to the financial education of entrepreneurs With online banking and the physical branch Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network [13 April 2010] -- Seventh largest among the world’s metropolises and the linchpin of Brazil’s booming economy São Paulo presents a globally relevant case study of stepped-up efforts—but continued deep challenges—if cities are to correct the deep poverty and environmental perils of massive slum settlements Close to a third of São Paulo’s 11 million people—in a metropolitan region of almost 20 million—live in slum-like conditions There are some 1,600 favelas (private or public lands that began as squatter settlements) 1,100 “irregular” land subdivisions (developed without legally recognised land titles) usually overcrowded and in precarious state of repair) Government response has progressed light years from the brutal “eradication”—bulldozing of favelas—that began with Brazil’s military dictatorship of the 1960s and continued for years as millions of rural families poured into São Paulo seeking industrial jobs Today policy makers recognise that upgrading is a far wiser course—socially But the environment complicates the task: São Paulo has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate with steep hillsides that create severe drainage problems especially when storm water flows through  sewerless slums picking up loose debris that clogs drainage channels and can imperil local drinking water supplies Environmental laws were passed in the 1980s to protect watersheds from construction projects—but settlements sprang up there anyway Official Brazilian policy shifted in the 1980s toward slum upgrading instead of its eradication—recognising it’s easier and cheaper to improve the conditions in a slum rather than try to remove it But the new policy lacked much weight until the federal enactment of a “City Statute” requiring that cities enact master plans It also provided a set of tools that municipalities can use to control land transfer and seek to assure legal tenure for tenants—a process São Paulo formally integrated into its own master plan a year later One of the most useful tools is letting cities create “zones of special interest” for disorganised slums formally recognising their existence and qualifying them for social services Another tool authorizes joint citizen-government management councils both in new and more settled areas experts on Brazilian slum upgrading suggest is the location OK for human settlement—not a water pollution risk because its location is too steep or on a flood plain or at least in the database of city properties do its residents have legal title to the land what can be done to assure them secure tenure There are clear rewards if a full process of regularisation—providing clear legal tenure—can be achieved If families can have their land title confirmed or at least secure a certificate recognising their occupancy rights Rules can be set (and enforced) to prevent building collapse And it’s easier to reduce litter by organising residents to bring their own household waste to collection points for city pick-up But going the whole way continues to be difficult While the city government works hard to give land tenure property rights are only conceded by law once this possession is recorded in a register office the complete process has occurred only with a few properties In most cases dwellers received a document without clear legal value São Paulo government has clearly become more activist and attuned to long-term slum upgrading in recent years It’s also been aided since 2001 by Cities Alliance a global alliance of national and city governments focused on scaling up urban poverty solutions The São Paulo Municipal Housing Secretariat in 2006 created a management information system that’s now able to track the status of favelas other precarious settlements and site/flooding/water hazard areas citywide With a priority of serving the city’s most vulnerable populations the tracking (developed in technical cooperation with Cities Alliance) provides a basis for effective targeting of upgrading efforts and environmental clean-ups São Paulo’s secretary of low-income housing “data about our favelas and irregular private land subdivisions was unreliable not reflecting the reality of these precarious settlements The input of the new system resulted from a big field campaign performed by our own technical staff in record time The effort showed how people are as important as hardware and software Now we can follow the dynamics of urban settlement São Paulo and Cities Alliance invited high-ranking officials from five other major cities—Cairo Mumbai and Ekurhuleni (South Africa)—to convene in São Paulo and discuss the broad challenges of slum upgrading “The passion of São Paulo’s technical staff in the slum upgrading process was clear for all to see,” Godfrey Hiliza of the Ekurhuleni delegation noted at the end of the sessions Brazil’s legal steps to establish clear land title are murky unreformed nationally because of powerful rural land-holding interests fearing loss to squatters on their properties Other pitfalls and barriers have included the high cost of land for building new housing millions of families’ lack of any credit history and urban crime compounded by Brazil’s notorious drug gangs And while the flow of new families from the countryside has subsided dramatically in recent years São Paulo’s deep social divisions and tenacious poverty stemming from the late 20th century’s immense in-migration of poor rural families the city claims that the housing issue in São Paulo can be “solved” by 2025 at current rates of city budget expenditure One example that inspires hope that São Paulo’s slum upgrading works is Paraisopolis (literally Paradise City) senior technical adviser at the Municipality of São Paulo Social Housing Department Upgrading solutions are working and the city’s long-term goals have shifted from 50 per cent removal of the neighbourhood’s population to just 10 per cent (those in risky areas like sharp slopes or drainage facilities) One of São Paulo’s goals is to bring electricity sewage and clean water services to as many areas as it can afford It is also seeking to enable “domicile swaps” so that the shack occupied by a family moving to a government-built apartment can be made available to a family living in a crowded There’s a strong plus in Paraisopolis’ location next to a high-income neighbourhood that provides easy access to jobs (such as maid or watchman work) São Paulo is consciously seeking to recycle city areas left by relocated families into such common spaces as parks soccer fields and skate parks—ways to help people socialise and build a sense of citizenship for remaining residents the Jardim Iporanga neighborhood is located in a protected watershed with a stream that feeds São Paulo’s main water reservoir the neighbourhood’s scattered housing without sewage treatment had been causing pollution following the environmentally-attuned upgrading one resident constructed a house on the newly-protected space “Nowadays it’s paradise here,” Regina says while before it was all sewage.” The main need now income generation is seen as a main challenge to a successful urbanisation process And there are some conscious job-creation efforts 30 women produce “ecobags” made of recycled rags; they are mostly sold to the city government which uses them for booklets at seminars and congresses There’s growing agreement in São Paulo that local communities must themselves take part in the upgrading process with a community leader acting as a mediator between the local residents and the government Social worker Rosana Aparício says this mediation is crucial for slum upgrading to be successful Cities Alliance regional advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean reckons that to have a complete slum upgrading process social work with the communities should continue after the construction and urbanization process is fully implemented There is a question: the array of housing and environmental cleanup policies in slum upgrading demand large investments The outlays have been rising progressively over the past five years as well as contribution from international organisations But will they endure politically—through one or more changes of municipal administration which acts as a watchdog and also has a direct role in deciding how housing fund moneys will be spent from socially attuned non-government organisations and from the universities They’re popularly elected in polls open to all São Paulo citizens “The council helps to guarantee the policies’ continuity,” she notes Cities Alliance is the global partnership fighting urban poverty and promoting the role of cities the Cities Alliance promotes long-term programmatic approaches that support national and local governments to develop appropriate policy frameworks Site by vardot™ © 2025 The Cities Alliance. Hosted by UNOPS Eighteen years have passed since Brazilian photojournalist Tuca Vieria climbed aboard a helicopter to photograph São Paulo from the air as part of a long feature report he took the picture that would become a global emblem of inequality and one of the most famous portraits of the abyss between the rich and the poor in the world The contrast between the balconies with swimming pools and lush tennis courts below with the rundown houses of a favela appeared to be the work of Photoshop It was a reflection of the divide between those who have it all (and continue to amass wealth) and those who have nothing published hundreds of times online and in print just as a group of millionaires and billionaires intervened in the World Economic Forum in Davos to say they wanted to pay more taxes it has been 18 years since the snapshot of inequality made the front page of the Brazilian daily Folha de S.Paulo Inequality is also in the headlines today after a report by Oxfam showed that the 10 richest men in the world doubled their wealth during the coronavirus pandemic “I was doing a report for the 450th anniversary of São Paulo which was going to go in a little booklet,” says Vieira explaining that he wanted to provide a “dose of reality” to all the stories of the city’s most-celebrated moments His editors liked the photo so much they published it on the front page and inside the paper It was she who suggested that he take an aerial view of the border between the Paraisópolis favela and the Penthouse tower in Morumbí neighborhood The photograph can be read in two ways: from a Brazilian and foreign perspective but according to Vieira “it only reached the scale that it has today when it got overseas.” When it was published in Europe Vieria took another photo of the area from the same perspective The most visible changes are the trees to cover the site of the favela one that is usually represented in numbers there is a real obsession with quantifying everything That’s why there is a constant stream of figures on the vertiginous level of social-economic inequality in the country two data points stand out for their gut-wrenching scale One refers to São Paulo: the residents of the worst neighborhood in the city live 23 years fewer than those of the best It’s as though one city – the wealthiest in Latin America – contained the realities of both Morocco and Denmark The average life expectancy for locals of the Cidade Tiradentes neighborhood is 58.3 years according to the 2021 inequality map released by the NGO Rede Nossa São Paulo The two neighborhoods are separated by a socioeconomic abyss and 50 kilometers a distance that can be covered in public transportation albeit in a journey that takes 2.5 hours and requires four transfers It’s a trip thousands of nannies and doormen make every day The wealthiest 1% of white men in the country have more income than all Black and mestizo women put together while these women – who are the largest demographic group in Brazil – have just 14.3% according to a study by the University of São Paulo a term made up in the 1970s by economist Edmar Lisboa Bacha to describe a fictitious country made up of Belgium and India with the laws and taxes of a small rich state Brazil is much richer than it was half a century ago but this wealth remains in the hands of the minority Since Rede Nossa São Paulo made the first map of inequality a decade ago explains that there “have been small improvements and setbacks but generally it is stalled.” He adds: “What is really striking is that Brazil is able to generate wealth The socio-economic divide narrowed slightly under the Working Party governments of Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva in the early 2000s But Brazil remains one of the most unequal countries in the world The share of wealth was also disproportional in these years The problem comes down to the power structure “It’s a structural part of how Brazil is organized cannot involve themselves with these structures that perpetuate inequality,” he says According to Abrahõ, São Paulo is a reflection of Brazil, with some nuances given the vastness and diversity of the country. Brazil is the same size as the European Union, and has a population of 210 million people who are descendants of slaves, white immigrants and indigenous people The contrasts are evident to anyone in São Paulo And they are quantified in the inequality maps With respect to the number of teenage pregnancies the worst neighborhood in the city has a figure that is 60 times higher than in the best the waiting period for a basic medical checkup is 12 times longer and the mortality rate for Covid-19 twice as high Metro or tram in a kilometer radius – only the bus comes in Vieria points out that his striking photo “has symbolic power which says a lot about our collective memory beyond the documentative power.” Because in reality the overblown Penthouse tower is considered tacky which expanded until it was touching the bottom of the skyscraper is one of the most dynamic favelas in Brazil Anyone in Brazil knows that the rich – the wealthiest 1% – don’t live in buildings like the Penthouse tower they escape to their bubbles: urban developments of luxury chalets and rolling green grass where walls and security controls keep people away from its small and quiet streets unable to travel abroad due to the pandemic has given a boost to the local luxury sector Porsche sales are at record highs and the waiting list to buy a helicopter is now 20 months But anyone on the street can see how homelessness has grown during the pandemic Families with children have joined the tens of thousands of people living on the street due to poverty and addiction 24,000 people were homeless – more than the population of some districts Some NGOs believe this number has now tripled to 66,000 this is an image no one should get used to English version by Melissa Kitson ¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción ¿Por qué estás viendo esto? cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS ¿Tienes una suscripción de empresa? 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Familiares das vítimas do caso Paraisópolis fazem ato que marca a primeira audiência do caso no Fórum Criminal da Barra Funda - Foto: Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil One of the main aspects of the first day of the Paraisópolis Massacre trials at the Barra Funda Criminal Forum in the western zone of the city of São Paulo (state of São Paulo) was the report of two witnesses who stated that the victims of the police action arrived already dead to the hospital in the early hours of December 1 "The two doctors who gave testimony were very decisive in stating that the victims arrived dead at the hospital we can conclude that the police altered the crime scene The victims died in Paraisópolis and the police improperly transported the bodies altering the crime scene," Dimitri Sales president of the State Council for the Human Rights Defense (Condepe) Sales points out that the witnesses' reports confirm Condepe's thesis that the police operation that resulted in the murder of nine young people who were at the DZ7 Ball in the neighborhood of Paraisópolis would have been premeditated by the Military Police of the State of São Paulo with the intention of criminalizing the ball "for the sake of revenge" after the death of a lieutenant from the corporation "We are very convinced that the witnesses contributed enormously to the thesis that the police previously set up an operation not complying with protocols and assuming the risk of what would come from that operation the witnesses confirm the thesis that the police acted with possible malice and therefore should be taken to a popular jury" 'Criminals in uniform are killing our people' relatives of the victims and human rights organizations gathered to ask for justice and demand that the military police be held accountable “Criminals in uniform are killing our people If there was a child of rich people among ours Among the 31 military police officers who participated in the operation only 12 became defendants and will now face trial For the relatives of the victims and their defense there was connivance of the State and the organs Quirino lamented that one of the lines adopted by the police defense lawyers is the criminalization of funk music and the nine murdered youths “They already tried to do that back in the beginning when the Military Justice asked for the toxicological examination of our children trying to claim that the possible cause of death was because they were under the influence of narcotics This attempt is yet another narrative they use to criminalize [the nine youths] and get away with the crime they committed." images of the violence promoted by the 16th Battalion of the São Paulo Military Police at the DZ7 Ball in the community of Paraisópolis The case became known as the Paraisópolis Massacre Most of the youths died of asphyxiation after the release of pepper spray and gas bombs by the Military Police who cornered the participants of the event the Internal Affairs of the Military Police investigated the conduct of 31 military police officers who were involved in the action The agency concluded that the military police did not cause the deaths of the ball goers Victims who went out to have fun and were unable to return home were: Marcos Paulo Oliveira dos Santos All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced provided it is not altered and proper credit is given All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced Os 9 de Paraisópolis (Da direita para a esquerda): Eduardo Bruno e Marcos Paulo - Foto: Montagem/Ponte Jornalismo This week, in What’s Happening in Brazil we take a look at the tragic story of the Paraisópolis 9 nine young people who were killed by suffocation during the aftermath of a truculent police operation in one of São Paulo’s impoverished communities Still without answers and not a single culprit punished as of yet families of the victims struggle to cope with their loss while fighting to ensure justice is served In our Culture Talk segment, we will be introduced to the amazing work of photojournalist Isis Medeiros. Since the rupture of the Fundão dam in the city of Mariana Isis has been working closely with families and their loved ones to ensure that their plight will not be forgotten we wrap things up by teaching you a delicious local recipe and showcasing some quality Brazilian music All What's Happening in Brazil episodes are available at Brasil de Fato's YouTube channel, where you'll also find a special English-content playlist Partners who wish to include a longer version of the show in their schedule may contact our international team at [email protected] or send a WhatsApp message to +55 11 993 055 156 For more news about Brazil and our region, visit our website BRAZIL — In the middle of towering buildings and upscale neighborhoods of the southern area of Sao Paulo the capital’s second-largest favela (a Brazillian term for an impoverished neighborhood that has experienced neglect from the government historically) With a never-ending expansion of new homes being built and a high population density these neighborhoods suffer from neglect and underfunding and more than one floor with unfinished slabs and DAB created the project “Colors of Favela.” Through the production and creation of special NFTs with local artists we will be raising funds to enable more than 500 homes in Paraisopolis to be plastered and colored Colors of Favela aims to raise BRL 5 million ($1 million) to be converted for community revitalization It will be a unique and exclusive collection with 10,000 colorful NFTs generated from digital programming By purchasing a token from one of these houses the buyer contributes to transforming the houses of Paraisopolis Similar projects were carried out in Mexico and improved interaction between their residents after artists painted homes with art and graffiti inside these marginalized communities Behind the Colors of Favela is Revitaliza Comunidades a startup connected to visual impact causes inside Paraisopolis and NFT developer) to make the Colors of Favela live improve the residents’ quality of life and strengthen the region’s commerce,” said Carlos Leonardo Purchases of NFTs can be made through the project’s website the user needs to have a digital wallet inside MetaMask and receipts – operations of digital banks the value of one NFT is attractive; one NFT can be sold at ETH 0.03 “The main reason for this project is to provide a comfortable environment generating social impact and income generation,” added Gilson Rodrigues The G10 of the Favelas is a group of Social Impact Leaders and Entrepreneurs of the Favelas which joined forces to develop the economy and act as a protagonist inside communities which promotes social impact and business opportunities inside slum territories Learn more by clicking Visiting Paraisópolis or TED TALK: How painting can transform communities. Brazil has 16.390 million people living in favelas countrywide The amount represents 8.1 percent of the national population (203M)—in other words eight out of every 100 people live in these areas The data can be found in a supplement to the 2022 census released Friday (Nov and show there are 12,348 favelas across 656 municipalities throughout Brazil The researchers consider favelas to be places with characteristics such as legal insecurity of tenure; total or partial absence of public services; poor urban planning standards; and the occupation of areas with environmental restrictions or risks The study reported that 43.4 percent of favela dwellers are in the Southeast—or7.1 million The Northeast has 28.3 percent (4.6M); the North 5.9 percent (968,000); and the Central-West The state of São Paulo has the largest population of favela residents—3.6 million—followed by Rio de Janeiro (2.1M) and Pará (1.5M) The three states together account for 44.7 percent of Brazil's total favela inhabitants The census identified 26 major urban concentrations in the country—a kind of metropolitan region with more than 750 thousand residents A total of 83.6 million people lived there 13.6 million lived in favelas—16.2 percent double the proportion for the whole country (8.1%) The survey also points out that residents of the 26 major urban concentrations accounted for 41.2 percent of the total Brazilian population while favela dwellers in these specific regions made up 82.6 percent of the total number of residents in favelas throughout Brazil the comparison demonstrates that favelas are a distinctly urban phenomenon “It’s an indicator that shows the concentration of these areas and these groups in the most urbanized regions,” she noted Against a backdrop of jumbled shacks seemingly piled atop each other the dancers run in place with studied movements then collapse to the floor in steady succession This is a rehearsal at the Ballet of Paraisopolis The dance school is just returning from a four-month hiatus for the COVID-19 pandemic which has left Brazil with the second-highest death toll worldwide after the US: nearly 130,000 people killed COVID-19 has hit hard in the favelas — poor overcrowded neighborhoods that often lack clean running water sanitation infrastructure or basic healthcare Although the virus is still spreading fast in Sao Paulo students and teachers at the school say they wanted — needed — to dance together again It felt like my first time,” said 17-year-old dancer and local resident Kemilly Luanda taking a break from rehearsals in an improvised studio whose ballet barre is a balcony railing — the dividing line that separates this world of graceful leaps and precision pirouettes from the brick shacks it overlooks Luanda and her classmates are rehearsing a new ballet with an urgent message: Nine Deaths a tribute to the victims who died in a stampede when police raided a huge street party in the favela in December last year The school had to postpone the debut performance because of the pandemic the students are working to prepare it as they return from the long interruption Getting through lockdown has not been easy for the academy which was founded in 2012 and provides free training to its 200 students thanks to public funding and private donations recounted how difficult it was to keep up with her training through remote classes from the two-room house she shares with her parents Paraisopolis is a postcard of the inequalities that divide Sao Paulo The favela juts up against one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city a privileged reserve of luxury high-rises and mansions that is a world apart from the one where Luanda lives prop the cellphone up on the top bunk and practice in the aisle between our beds,” she said small phone screen and lack of computer made things harder She missed the “sisters” she has studied dance with for the past eight years She is one of 22 students who have returned for classes — 10 in the school itself and 12 on the second floor of a cultural center that was converted into an anti-coronavirus command hub during lockdown The rest of the school’s students are continuing their classes online The academy had to postpone its first-ever graduation ceremony Keeping the school going by remote learning “hasn’t been easy,” founder Monica Tarrago said “It was the worst feeling I’ve had in my life We never stop except for Christmas and New Year’s the school’s six teachers designed an intensive program to keep students engaged “We thought of everything we could do via [the videoconference application] Zoom to keep up their physical and mental preparation at home,” Tarrago said plus lessons with 10 dancers from around the world including French ballerina Isabelle Guerin former danseuse etoile at the Paris Opera Ballet The dancers are working hard to ready Nine Deaths They have the sores on their feet to prove it when they remove their ballet slippers after class “We have to feel the characters in our skin children and Olympians have been through 'Rugby para Todos' a community organisation founded in the Paraisópolis slum in São Paulo Olympics.com interviewed project co-founder Maurício Draghi to find out more Picture by World RugbyBy Virgílio Franceschi NetoSão Paulo As well as competing for the national side, both players are also part of Pasteur Athlétique, a traditional São Paulo rugby outfit with French origins. Their training sessions with the club take them to Morumbi, a neighbourhood in the capital of São Paulo close to some of the cities poorest districts including the community of Paraisópolis. The name Paraisópolis translates to 'City of Paradise', but they discover it is anything but. The slum is like a city within São Paulo. With over 100,000 inhabitants, the 100-year-old favela is the fifth largest in Brazil, stretching over little more than one square kilometre. In places like Paraisópolis, opportunities are rare. The people living inside it go without access to healthcare, education, sport and leisure, leaving the thousands of young people inside its walls vulnerable and exposed. Picture by Rugby para Todos/DivulgaçãoAs Draghi and Bi Kobashi start to meet some of the children from Paraisópolis they learn more about the social inequality they face as well as the general lack of access to sports they experience This combined with the rugby 'access gap' between Brazilians and those from the favelas made both players uncomfortable did not represent all the people of Brazil; rugby was not within the reach of everyone they decided to act: “There can be no equality,” Draghi realised In May 2004, after some discussion, Draghi and Kobashi decided to go to the football field in Paraisópolis to talk to the community leader about using the pitch to teach rugby to the children in the area. When they arrived they found improvised organisation and even an ox tied to the fence. They went to the bar on the edge of the field. There was some initial suspicion until they discovered that the person in charge of the football pitch, Chiquinho, had been inspector of the school where Draghi studied. Tensions then eased. After aligning on ideas and formalities, the following Sunday they agreed that the Brazilian under-19 team could hold a demonstration game in Paraisópolis. Draghi and Kobashi prepared 40 tickets which they then distributed to the children and parents who came to watch. On the tickets, there was an invitation to the first rugby practice they had planned to hold the following Wednesday. Picture by Rugby para Todos/DivulgaçãoOn that second Wednesday of May 2004, when the duo arrived to conduct their first training session, they were amazed at what they saw. There were more than 100 children at the Paraisópolis football field. The response had been overwhelming. Following the initial success, the rugby players continued to host regular training sessions but more immediate demands began to emerge. Children were arriving with headaches because they had not had even a meal that day. Others needed psychological attention. Some days later, the pair organised snacks to be distributed before training and a psychologist became part of the team organising the sessions. As more and more serious issues arose, Draghi and Kobashi were forced to alter the project's goal. "Initially, it was to teach rugby. However, we realised that sports initiation was needed before that. A base, with multi-disciplinary follow-up, such as the presence - in addition to the psychologist - of a nutritionist and a physiotherapist," recalled Draghi. While attending to all these needs, they also began to develop an apprentice project to help some of the young people enter the job market. It was yet another shift in their original idea. Within six months of starting, there were already children who played very well. With that, Draghi and Kobashi realised a need to build a larger organisational structure taking on even more resources. In the first three years, everything was done on a voluntary and experimental basis: "It was all about trying and making mistakes, trying and having success," Draghi remembered. "Only in the fourth year of activities was the first budget raised." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rugby Para Todos (@rugbyparatodos) Draghi and Kobashi realised the need to create something more substantial the 'Instituto Rugby para Todos' (Rugby for All Institute) was created The project quickly began to be recognised for the depth of its work with its approach to the favelas becoming a reference point for others as to how to use sport as a tool for social inclusion The Institute started to manage the careers and routines of the participants whether in the sport or outside it," added Draghi the participants began to have different opportunities offered to them including taking higher education courses two teams were created: the Leoas (Lionesses) and the Leões (Lions) of Paraisópolis Picture by Rugby para Todos/DivulgaçãoAccording to the Institution 5000 children have now been helped with 2000 receiving continuous care Draghi says that - for him - having a good idea is no longer enough "Good communication and transparency are needed," he emphasised In the midst of the most adverse conditions which could make any person give up playing sports especially one that is far from being fully professional Paraisópolis has given countless talents to Brazilian rugby who competed in editions of the Olympic Games Leila Silva was part the Yaras (as the players of the Brazilian women's rugby team are known) in Tokyo 2020 taught her how to express herself and make decisions on and off the pitch she needed to do well in school which made her enjoy studying: “Sport helped shape me as a person." Bianca Silva was named 2018 Rugby Player of the Year by the Brazilian Olympic Committee She fondly recalled her beginnings in rugby in Paraisópolis to Brazilian podcast 'Mesa Oval' "You have to understand that nothing comes easy Have as a reference the people who give you strength "The project allowed me to believe more in myself introduced me to incredible people that I live with and gave me great experience." Given that social inequality and a lack of sports culture were the reasons why 'Rugby para Todos' was founded it's safe to say that the project has been very successful "All of this has been achieved correctly which makes me happy," reflected Draghi "But not only the results of the Institute itself but above all those of the children and teenagers participating in it." in clubs or in the Brazilian national team - Bianca and Leila Silva among the Yaras; Robert Tenório Igor Luciano and Varejão among the Tupis - but also successes off it such as helping those with career paths and their studies Draghi knows that the journey ahead of 'Rugby para Todos' is clear: it must stay commited to helping vulnerable young people in abject conditions And  he has no fear of the difficulties which may arise in the future: "Society cannot tolerate inequality We remain focused on the project's goal "Rugby is an opportunity to express yourself Rugby is a sport for everyone and opportunities are for everyone too." - Maurício Draghi 2011 at 8:30 AM EDTBookmarkSaveIn the compact and crowded slums of Brazil Children play in and out of front rooms and walkways entrances to apartments often require trips through the homes of others This is the inspiration behind the Grotao Community Center, under construction in the Paraisopolis favela in Sao Paulo. Designed by Urban-Think Tank the project seeks to create a piece of flexible public space for this community Young people were surrounded and trapped by the Military Police on the night of December 1st “I lived 41 years thinking that I had the police to protect my family. And that same police I admired took my son's life, took him from me. In a cruel and cowardly way”, says Maria Cristina Quirino Portugal, mother of Dennys Henrique one of the nine victims of truculent military police action at the famous DZ7 Ball a poor neighborhood in the south side of São Paulo should have been an ordinary night of fun for Denys and thousands of other young people but it turned into a nightmare when the beats were abruptly replaced by tear gas The incident came to be known as the Paraisópolis Massacre Those responsible remain unpunished to this day Videos of teenagers trapped in alleyways inside the community surrounded by police officers who closed off possible exit routes showed the despair and turmoil caused by the agents' actions Gustavo Cruz Xavier and Marcos Paulo Oliveira dos Santos They died of "mechanical asphyxiation by indirect suffocation", according to the coroner’s reports, the result of the being cornered and trapped by the police operation They lived in other impoverished regions of the city and were not familiar with the streets of Paraisópolis Authorities claim that they were chasing two men on a motorcycle who had fired shots at them This version is contested by residents of the community who say the agents blocked the streets with the aim of shutting down the ball The siege resulted in panic and the disorderly flight of a crowd of young people the families remain without answers and fight to hold those who caused the deaths accountable The investigation has not yet been completed and the 31 policemen involved Maria Cristina makes it a point to talk about Denys Henrique The teenager would turn 18 this December 31st and worked cleaning upholstery she says that she did not know that her son had gone to the DZ7 Ball Her mother's heart knew that something was wrong She waited until the phone rang on Sunday morning asking someone responsible for the young man to come to a hospital in Campo Limpo The police's responsibility for the deaths of the “Paraisópolis 9” "If the police had not entered the community that way Maria Cristina demands that the agents be tried for their actions marred by the misuse and disproportionate use of force “They [policemen] are still on the job They're still cops … God only knows if they're not still killing Demanding Justice is not something meant only for those types of days who did not know each other personally and lived in different regions of the city of São Paulo This articulation has requested meetings with authorities and organized protests has criticized the posture of governor João Doria's right-wing government in the state of São Paulo from the beginning the meetings held as soon as the deaths occurred were "theatrics" and did not result in effective actions suffer from longing for the loved one they have been raising since the age of 12 Vagner regrets that her future was cut so violently a researcher at the Center for Anthropology and Forensic Archeology (CAAF) at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) the death of the nine youths explicitly reveals the existence of institutional support for police violence; starting with the police reports which put forth a narrative that the victims reacted to police intervention bureaucratic and legal frameworks hide the reality of what happened but a set of other state actors who agree with this policeman who kills the sherriff who gives a statement about what happened decides whether or not to file a complaint an institutional structure that supports this kind of violence” who has worked closely with the victims’ families over the past year Azevedo also argues that the killing of young people by the police should be considered a collective loss, and that it is essential to take into account social markers such as race and class According to the 2019 Brazilian Public Safety Yearbook 75.4% of people killed by the police in Brazil are black as are most of the victims of the Paraisópolis Massacre As the setting sun casts an orange glow over the Sao Paulo slum of Paraisopolis a dozen aspiring models sporting towering heels strut up and down an improvised catwalk who is teaching the teenagers the tricks of the trade as part of a project to spread the glitter of the Brazilian megacity’s famous fashion week which has launched careers like that of supermodel Gisele Bundchen who strutted on Wednesday in her final runway show these teens are taking the idea of couture into their own brightly manicured hands whose name roughly translates as Fashion From the Fringes a 24-year-old fashion student from the slum who wanted to bring some of the glitz of Sao Paulo Fashion Week (SPFW) to his own community I went to a show by the designer Joao Pimenta that SPFW held in a poor neighborhood “I thought: ‘Why don’t we create these events ourselves?’ It’s great for SPFW to come here and hold shows That is how Fashion From the Fringes was born at the municipal education center in Paraisopolis talks on fashion and modeling workshops that include lessons on self-esteem like the one these local teens — mostly girls the menswear designer whose show inspired the project “Brazilian fashion will be stronger when everyone is included,” Pimenta said And inspiration can also come from unexpected places,” he said “I’ve wanted to be a model since I was a little girl I’m taking it seriously,” said 16-year-old Gabriela Freitas slender girl with large eyes and flowing hair that reaches her waist “I learned to improve my posture and how to walk on a runway I never thought I would be able to do something like this the workshops are less about a future modeling career than the life skills they learn I live in Paraisopolis with my mom and my grandma and I know that everything will be harder for me,” 19-year-old student Denisse Sena said matter-of-factly “All my steps to get a head start from that situation and this workshop is helping me develop myself better,” she said Paraisopolis shows the country’s contrasts: It is a violent impoverished enclave surrounded by the wealthy district of Morumbi a neighborhood of towering high-rises and glistening shopping malls Two workshop participants already scored a modeling job with Pimenta who had them photographed on the streets of Paraisopolis for a recent ad campaign Brothers Anderson and Ebson Conceicao da Costa were at the workshop with their sister when the designer discovered them “We learned and saw a lot of different things,” Ebson said “If you’re born in a place like Paraisopolis you usually don’t get those kinds of opportunities,” he said What are these? 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