4 thuosand families can be massacred in Brasil

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday August 23, 2002 10:57 by cmi

4 thousand families in Osasco are fighting day by day to get what is guaranted to them by law, their right that is not only guaranted by the Brazilian Constitution but also by the Letter of Human Rights. Such rights as housing, food, heath and dignity.

Osasco is a city part of the Big São Paulo, an industrial center that nowadays is full of malls and big supermarkets as the WallMarket (from USA). On the surburbs of São Paulo and alos at the Favelas of Osasco (poor neighborhoods), thousand of families live today in terrible condictions of life and without jobs without any incentive or hope to get a solution for that. Because that is no govermment section who gives a solution for the habitation and unemployment problems.
In July 27th, 400 families, who came from all different places from the Big São Paulo, squatted a lot on the rich area of Osasco, on the side of a Golf Camp and luxurious condominium. The area has four owners, between them one is the Company Grama, who is ownned by a rish family called Matarazzo and has 50 hectares. The place used to work as a dump for trash, stoled cars and dead bodies. The number of families was growning and in a few days the number of 400 became 4000. In these weeks the families has already organized themselves in groups (around 200 groups) each one with 20 tends. A communitary kitchen was made, they server breakfast and lunch every day to the families. A pharmacy was created as a place to give first aid to the families. And that is also a secretary to facilitaded the process of organization and to work as a spot where the families can get orientation about updates on what is going on at the camp and with the camp (about the negociation with the landlords and the cityhall). There an official register was made, the majority of the families came from the northeast from Brasil, families who are unemployed and liven at the favelas or "as a favor" in relatives houses or with friends. There is also a small group of "Bolivianos". Most of those immigrants came to São Paulo looking for a job and better condiction of life and ended up living in the streets or beeing slaves on illegal factories.
On July 28th the petition for reintegration of the area was made, on the 30th a deal was made between the movements who made the ocupation and the cityhall claimming to start a negociation with the owners before the police take any action. On August 2th the Military Police surrounded the squat with hundreds of riot policemen and threated to evict the families, thanks to another negociation made with the cityhall they left the place without any injuries was made. On this negociation the homeless workers could suspend the reintegration.
On this last Monday (08/19) the deadlime for the suspending of the reintegration petition was over and the eviction ghost came back again, in another deal the moviment got more 48hrs. This new deadline was broke by the Judge Anelise Soares, from the 3a. Vara CÃ-vel de Osasco, who said that the police could get in and evict the area, including also a permision to them to begin with it at 3:00am from the 08/21 (what is illegal in Brasil, the police can not evict anyone after 6pm till 6am). Negotiating with the Police, the movement got a deadline till 12:00pm from this Thursday (08/21). However untill yesterday at 4:00pm that was no attempt from the Police to evict them. They just were rounding the area. The situation in Osasco is really grave, because the camp has 4thousand families, so we can count around 8.000 children and teenages. Any action from the Military Police could resoult in a massacre can happen. Is really important that people all around the world send letters to the State and City authorities making pression on them to free the land and give it to the sem-teto (homeless workers) and guarantee to them savety and their rights to housing, food, health and dignity.
http://www.midiaindependente.org/front.php3?article_id=34959&group=webcast
http://www.midiaindependente.org/front.php3?article_id=34957&group=webcast"Assembly - How the decisions are made on the ocupations
-http://www.midiaindependente.org/front.php3?article_id=34950&group=webcast The Camp
-http://www.midiaindependente.org/front.php3?article_id=34924&group=webcast The resistence