Solidarity with the Comitê de Resistência Popular
(Peoples Resistance Committee)
A house in the dockland area of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, that was vacant for more than 10 years, was occupied in December 2003 by a group of poor families organised by the Comitê de Resistência Popular. In former times this building was used as a source of income by letting it for different purposes. According to some neighbours the house was lastly used as a garage for private vehicles. Less than a week after the occupation the possessor of the building, the Irmandade de Santissimo Sacramento da Candelária (a confraternity of the Catholic Church), demanded the restitution of their property.
If one keeps in mind that this is concerning a confraternity who claims to preach the Christian paradigm, such a behaviour is staggering. But the families, supported by organisations of the social grass-roots movement (movimento popular), do resist in the struggle for their rights to proper housing and a dignified living. The situation of the families, many of them are mothers, elder people and children, is comparable to the situation of a major proportion of the population in the federal state and in the whole country: They are denied the right of housing and of work while the living costs increase and unemployment rises. The use of police forces are common. Like it was applied by the confraternity in this case. We do know, that this is the result of a far-reaching social inequality predominating in the state of Rio de Janeiro aswell as in all of Brazil. The families, who are occupying the house today, are not to be blamed for being born poor, for being homeless or for suffering from hunger. The situation of these families is caused by the unscrupulous exploitation of their labour and their ancestors for the last 500 years. Today disinherited daughters and sons of a wealthy country do only possess their labour which is devaluated continually.
The Comitê de Resistencia Popular is an organisation of the poor. It unifies the poor inhabitants of the cities (the workers, the homeless, the unemployed, the street hawkers, etc.). The committees purpose is to struggle for the warranty and the expansion of the peoples rights and to achieve entire civil rights – the bigger part of society is denied both.
The Comitê de Resistencia Popular participates in the peoples struggle and tries to intensify this fight for employment, housing, social justice and freedom.
So far the house has been changed a lot until today. When the occupants entered the building it was in a miserable condition: dirty, in pieces with insects all over the place. Today it is a living space for poor families. As a way to include the local community, the Comitê de Resistencia Popular furthermore intends to use the building for different other activities. The families want for example to provide space for an alphabetisation-project for adults, for preparatory courses for entrance examinations to universities as well as for events and gatherings of the local community and other grass-roots movements.
The confraternity Irmandade de Santissimo Sacramento da Candelária, who administrates a vast number of commercial operations and property, vicariously connected to the archbishopric of the catholic Church of Rio de Janeiro, mandated several lawyers to enforce a claim by legal action to demand their property right. The families were then backed up by Unions, grass-roots movements, faculties, scholar- and student groups. Public solidarity-actions against the imminent evacuation and the oppressive police actions were organised and took place across from the Igreja Candelária (Church of Fraternity). In a desperate action two members of the Comitê de Resistencia Popular chained themselves to the church and started a four-day hungerstrike the night before an impending court-decision in March. This hungerstrike was ended after a partial victory over the unprogressive confraternity. The decision was as follows: The families should not be evicted before the day of a court-hearing on April 14th. Students, unionists and press members of the grass-roots movements occupied the office of the archbishop of Rio de Janeiro during the hungerstrike of the comrades. The aim of this action was to call on the archbishopric to intervene in the judicial proceedings instructed by the confraternity and to convince them to allow the families to live in the building. This occasion clearly showed, that the archbishopric of Rio de Janeiro is aligned to the most conservative and unprogressive sectors of society – as it takes side with the proprietorship and not with the poor. The Monsignore Abílio, who clamoured for the police intervention to evacuate the protesters, was incidentally already as a juvenile a member of the Comando de Caça aos Comunistas (Communist Hunting Command) – a group which was active in the times of dictatorship. Today he is a member of the blimpish organisation called Tradiçao, Família e Propiedade (Tradition, Family and Property) Friends and Comrades, we are facing a serious situation. Nobody yan feel certain, that the families are allowed to stay in the house – infact quite the contrary is the case! In this sense we urge everybody to call on activists all across the planet to supprt these poor families in their struggle for a right of housing and work. It is inevitable to press the Catholic Church to withdraw from the support they’ve granted the confraternity so far.
It’s necessary to solidarise with the occupation by organising various actions, because only if the struggle continues like it was fought so far, we can succeed. The aim remains to urge the church to take a firm stand for the rights of the occupants. But the sruggle of the Comitê de Resistencia Popular also needs the support of all organisations and committees of the grass-roots movement aswell as the support of the society to force the confraternity and the archbishopric of Rio de Janeiro onto the defensive, especially after they argued to evict the families by violence. The hippocracy of the clergy, who amasses money in the name of God, is facing the solidarity of the community. More than 600 signatures in solidarity with the Comitê have been gathered in small chapels and churches. We hope the this situation becomes generally known in the public.
Whoever is able to, should help to browbeat the Church (in Brazil aswell as elsewhere) by sending e-mails, faxes and letters, by organising demonstrations and solidarity-events.
The occupants have promised to continue their struggle in any case and if necessary to resist to enforce the right of housing. They promised to combat for a victory of the Luta Popular (peoples struggle). Once again we urge everybody to demand, that the families shall not be evicted and that their stay in the house has to be warranted!
Write protest-letters to the archbishopric:
Mitra Arquiepiscopal do Rio de Janeiro,
Rua Benjamin Constant, nº 23, Gloria,
Rio de Janeiro -CEP:20241-150,
Brasil.
Telefon/Fax:
0055-21-2292-3132