Good business

Victory among ruins

Maria da Penha was one of the most vocal resisters of the Olympic-related evictions. She used to live in Vila Autodromo, the favela next to the Olympic Park. City Hall bulldozed her three-story house five months before the event, but even then she refused to leave. She now lives in one of the 20 whitewashed, identical bungalows the city had to build for them at the last minute.

“We managed to stay on this land, but my happiness is incomplete because we’re just 20 families out of 600,” she said. Much of the community’s old land was turned into a now-unused access road, and the survivors still struggle with deficient services. Around them, pieces of walls and kitchen tiles are a reminder of the aggression they faced.

Like many who fought eviction, they blame Paes for putting real estate interests above community rights. Paes did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

A 63-year-old foreman and fisherman, Jorge Ramos used to live in a multistory house at Vila Autodromo with his wife and three adult children.

Negotiating for his whole family, Ramos exchanged his old house for three 645-square-foot apartments at one of the social housing complexes, plus what he calls “sufficient” compensation.

Two years in, he is already refurbishing the failing pipes in his apartment.

“Of course they were not going to be the best, because they were built in a hurry, but it’s up to each one to make it as cozy as they want,” he said.

While he laments the threats and aggression of City Hall, he considers himself a winner in the process.

“What I had at Vila Autodromo was the house of my dreams, but I accepted that it was over and went looking for the best I could get,” he said.