Brazil evicts Maracana’s native protestors
Police clear Indian museum site to let World Cup work commence
BrazIlIan police in riot gear have stormed an abandoned Indian museum complex and pulled out indigenous protestors who have for months resisted eviction from the building, which will be demolished as part of World Cup preparations next to the legendary Maracana football stadium.
Some went peacefully. Others were handcuffed and dragged from the building. They were transported to temporary housing provided by the government. City officials have said they will build a new Indian cultural centre that could provide housing, but that it will not be complete for another 18 months.
as the Indians were removed yesterday, a large group of their supporters clashed with police, who used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to push them back.
The museum has been at the centre of a drawn-out legal battle between the occupants and state and local authorities, who want to destroy the complex as part of renovations prior to the 2014 World Cup.
Maracana will also host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics.
Officials have not said exactly what would replace the museum, but they have said the area will see a new mercial centre stadium exits.
The indigenous group included people of about ten ethnicities, mostly Guarani, Pataxo, Kaingangue and Guajajara, who lived for years in ten homes they built on the site of the museum abandoned in 1977.
Gabriel Guajaja, a 23-year-old law student wearing a mask and brandishing a Brazilian flag, said he turned out to support the Indians.
“It’s been 500 years that white men have been exploiting the car park, comand expanded