Rio favelas blocked in by Israel-style wall

Credit: Marcelo Carnaval / Agência O Globo

Construction has already begun on a 2,900m long series of containment walls in Rio’s South Zone, aimed at stemming the expansion of favelas behind its richest suburbs.

The first part of the concrete and steel wall will be erected behind the favela of Dona Marta, which has been occupied by police special forces since November 2008, when the ruling drug cartel was expelled.

The walls are slated for construction in most of the South Zone’s favelas, including Rocinha (where I work) and Pavaozinho and Cantagalo, directly behind my apartment.

550 houses will be destroyed to make way for the walls, and resident will be re-placed or reimbursed, according to an article in O Globo, the largest Brazilian newspaper.

Rio’s South Zone seems to have reached a crisis point, with no more land left for standard housing construction, and now the end of favela housing expansion onto the hills.

More demolitions in the favela

Last week, demolition began on a large housing centre (“Minhocão”) in Rocinha that was deemed unsafe and illegal. The courts  suspected that the development wasn’t in the public interest, and instead was developed for commercial profit from housing sales.