Igor B. Cardoso
Residents of Morro do Pasmado began the day of January 24, 1964 with the image of fire in their wooden shacks. The blaze, ordered by the governor of Guanabara, Carlos Lacerda, sought to put an end to any attempt by the 189 families evicted from there days earlier to return.
At stake was one of the most beautiful postcard views of Guanabara Bay, in Botafogo. Lacerda believed that the hill, made valuable by its location, was being wasted on working-class housing. The eviction operation was part of an ambitious project to eliminate favelas located in places where tourists passed through.
Publicly, the goal stated by the government was to improve residents' living conditions. They already had a set destination: the Vila Kennedy housing complex, in Bangu, built with funds from the program.
Alliance for Progress
Social Services secretary Sandra Cavalcanti described the forced removal to Vila Kennedy, where they would receive “schools, social services, and sanitary conditions,” as the “first social revolution carried out in Brazil.”
Against the euphoric tone, some newspapers reported on the population's climate of dissatisfaction. The distance, the lack of infrastructure, and the extra cost of the new homes were the main complaints. One of the residents of Pasmado let loose against Sandra Cavalcanti: "this lady talks about Bangu with her mouth so full, you'd think Bangu had a beach!" Etevaldo Justino de Oliveira, director of the Federação das Associações de Favelas do Estado da Guanabara, summed up what would become the start of the movement against the favela removal policy: "Not Bangu: urbanization of the favelas, yes!"
Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of an urban scene. On the left side, we see an area of rocks and vegetation, with houses built on the hillsides. In the center, there is a tunnel with two cars passing through it. On the right, there is more vegetation and a large tree. The background features more houses and vegetation.Morro do Pasmado.
Rio de Janeiro, sem data. Autoria desconhecida. Fundo Correio da Manhã / Arquivo Nacional.