Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 13 July 2017

Battle for downtown Sao Paulo pits squatters against mayor

ple who are often forced to 2018 presidential candi-
live on the city’s periphery. date, paints himself an
Fair-housing groups now alternative to traditional
occupy about 80 previ- politicians, a millionaire
ously empty properties businessman who will use
downtown, according to private sector-style man-
the city’s Housing Depart- agement to solve public
ment. Thousands of peo- problems.
ple, mostly families, have But mayors of Sao Paulo
made their homes in build- have been promising to
ings that include hotels, a revitalize the Centro district
textile company’s offices almost since it began emp-
and an old federal police tying out in the 1970s and
headquarters. Previous ad- ‘80s as businesses and resi-
ministrations pledged to dents sought more space
purchase some of the oc- and more modern build-
cupied buildings, and plans ings elsewhere.
are underway to renovate The Centro spreads out
them for legal, subsidized from the Se Cathedral and
housing. includes some of the old-
The battle goes to the est parts of the city, though
heart of competing visions most buildings date to the
for the megacity. On the 19th or 20th century, when
Resident Francisca Lima stands inside her apartment in the Maua building, in downtown Sao
Paulo, Brazil. The Maua is unexpectedly tidy and well organized. Around 1,000 people now live in one hand, Sao Paulo is the Sao Paulo boomed on the
a mid-20th century building, a former hotel, known as the Maua Occupation, with clean hallways, engine of Brazil’s economy back of coffee production.
doors shut with padlocks and even a doorman who buzzes visitors in through the entry gate. and a leading financial It is home to major cultural
(AP Photo/Andre Penner) center. Doria, who has institutions and much of
By SARAH DiLORENZO the group who responded and residents back to the called the condition of the the city government, but
Associated Press by throwing rocks, lead- city’s historic heart. city “garbage,” talks about decaying storefronts now
SAO PAULO (AP) — It was ing to an hour of cat-and- The young men and the making it a “global city,” stand in the shadow of
around midnight when mouse confrontations be- crowd that cheered them including by selling off pub- mid-century landmarks like
eight young men with fore the crowd finally dis- on were organized by the licly owned stadiums and Oscar Niemeyer’s sinuous
crowbars tried to force persed. Front for the Fight for Hous- privatizing the manage- Copan Building.
open the large gray metal It was a small battle in a ing, a group that argues ment of city bus terminals These days, the neighbor-
double doors of a building broader struggle for the fu- that the landlords of va- and parks in an effort to hood is on the cusp of a
on a tree-lined street in Sao ture of downtown Sao Pau- cant and deteriorating right city finances and at- comeback, equal parts
Paulo’s dilapidated down- lo, where squatters occupy abandoned structures are tract new investment and dilapidated and edgy. Ev-
town. About 100 people abandoned buildings to breaking a law that re- business. Housing rights ac- erything can change in
gathered around, some press for more affordable quires buildings to serve a tivists, on the other hand, a block. One street might
shouting advice: “Pull up housing, and the city’s new “social function.” They say fear a downtown cleansed have a hip bar or a coffee
now! Try lower! Lower!” mayor, Joao Doria, dreams those buildings could offer of the poor with fewer pub- shop. Another might have
But before the doors could of a gleaming, largely pri- quality housing in a prime lic parks and plazas. a series of buildings with
give way, the police ar- vately financed renewal location well connected Doria, whose name is of- the windows blown out. On
rived, launching tear gas at that will draw businesses by public transport to peo- ten floated as a potential nearly every street, home-
less people sleep in door-
ways. Most of the empty
Honduran video journalist shot to death in Mexico buildings downtown are
privately owned, presum-
ably awaiting a turnaround
By LEV GARCIA win Rivera Paz was shot to bottom of the killing. duras after his colleague in the market to make ren-
Associated Press death Sunday in the town A request for comment Igor Padilla was killed. ovation worthwhile.
XALAPA, Mexico (AP) — of Acayucan. from the Honduran Embas- Padilla was shot in Janu- Doria has already
Authorities in the Mexican It said the body was identi- sy in Mexico City was not ary by four men in police launched a campaign to
state of Veracruz said this fied by a relative. immediately answered. uniforms in the northern beautify downtown plazas
week that they were inves- Raul Otoniel Morazan, Marta Sanchez Soler, coor- Honduras city of San Pedro and avenues, targeting
tigating the killing of a Hon- Honduras’ consul general dinator of the Mesoameri- Sula. graffiti and breaking up
duran video journalist who in Veracruz, called in an can Migrant Movement, a Padilla had covered “Crackland,” a several-
had sought refugee status interview with local media nonprofit group supporting crime and also hosted block area where drug
in Mexico. outlet e-veracruz.com for migrants travelling through a humorous television users and dealers oper-
In a statement, the state all levels of the Mexican the region, said in a state- show, and Rivera was his ated for years with near
prosecutor’s office said Ed- government to get to the ment that Rivera fled Hon- cameraman.q impunity.q