On may 2nd, hundreds of families from Homeless Workers Social Movement from Brasil have occupied a land that was abandoned for years, in Itaquera, neighbourhood where World Cup will start in Brasil next month.
During the last days, the occupation has received about two thousand families, which were in awful home conditions around the area. They are workers from Jardim Helian, Gleba do Pessego e Jardim Cibele (parts to Itaquera). But not only, we have received people from all the east zone of São Paulo.
Their stories are pretty much the same: poor people who couldn’t afford the abusive rent values that has drastically grown, specially in Itaquera, due to World Cup. The value of the square meter has increased 165% in the last six years.
Despite the imobiliary speculation has not only reasons concerned to the sport event, it has certainly decisive responsibility in a tendency that already existed. Studies from the “The human right to adequate housing” from UNESCO demonstrated that the events like Olympics and World Cup are directly linked to the raise of house’s prices.
Due to all this reasons, the occupation was named “COPA DO POVO” (“PEOPLE’S WORLD CUP”). While Fifa’s event will happen with 30 billions of investments, without legacy to the poor brazilian people who can’t even afford the games tickets, we organized an answer.
Less than 2 miles from the opening stadium, thousands of families fight for the human right to adequate housing, under improvised canvas houses. The Copa do Povo occupation opens wide this contradiction.
We hope that brazilian government has the coherence to supply these homeless families with their needs.
IF THERE WAS MONEY FOR FIFA’S WORLD CUP, IT SHOULD HAVE FOR PEOPLE’S WORLD CUP.
MTST – URBAN RESISTANCE
