Giovana Vitória Martins Dotta
Carlos Lacerda's administration as the first governor of the State of Guanabara inaugurated a period of favela removals and the transfer of residents to large-scale housing complexes built by the government, the largest being Vila Kennedy and Vila Aliança, in the neighborhoods of Bangu and Senador Camará, respectively. The focus of these actions was on removing favelas and moving residents into housing complexes. During his administration, “Temporary Housing Complexes” (CHP) were also created, as well as the Parques Proletários (Working-Class Parks), where residents of removed favelas were 'temporarily' housed in wooden dwellings.
The proletarian parks, carried out under Carlos Lacerda's administration, proposed transferring favela residents to temporary shelters in surrounding areas while permanent housing would be built, preferably in the city's suburbs, using state-owned land.
These measures are at the root of the consolidation of large clusters of Rio's suburban zones. In response to this housing policy, residents of the most vulnerable favelas organized into associations and launched a series of grassroots mobilizations to resist removal policies and urban violence. Distance from the urban center, precarious transportation, and lack of infrastructure were problems faced by the population excluded from citizenship.
In 1964, for the Secretary of Social Services of the State of Guanabara, Sandra Cavalcanti, it wasn't the favela that needed to be urbanized, but rather the “favela dweller.” With a way of operating that violated the dignity of the residents, she commanded and decided on the extinction of certain favelas.
Sandra was hated both for her violent style of action and for her housing policies, manifesting her hygienism in the affluent Guanabara region. According to her, the immediate goal of the removal was to free up the area for urbanization works and the construction, on the site, of residential buildings, which favored the speculative frenzy of the real estate market.
Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a favela. From left to right, we see several small wooden houses with tiled roofs, some with balconies. In the center, there is a large building with a sloped roof. On the right, there are more small houses and trees. In the background, we see a hill covered with vegetation. At the bottom of the image, we see people walking down the street.Catacumba. Jornal O Correio da Manhã. Rio de Janeiro, 1964. Fundo Correio da Manhã/Arquivo Nacional.