Vila Autodromo’s community evicted for the Olympic Games

Villa Autodromo, a slum located in the Rio’s epicenter of the Olympic Park, was demolished to make way for the great sport event, but about 20 families refused to leave their homes, writes the Latin American press.

Vila Autodromo slum, a fishing community on the outskirts of Jacarepagua lagoon, near the Olympic Park, was a few years ago the home for over 600 families. But, as Rio de Janeiro was declared the city that will host the Olympics, there was a huge need of new streets and parking lots. Nearby the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, far from commercial athletic performance, a group of residents who made it to the evictions of an entire community strive to rebuild their lives.

Authorities have offered to compensate residents or to relocate them into an apartment complex nearby in a failed attempt to force them to leave their homes. Many residents have accepted the offer, but a group of 20 families did not give up their fight. While their homes were demolished by bulldozers, they did not want to leave the place that felt like home, and now they are trying to rebuild their homes.

In preparation for the Olympics, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, evacuated and moved to other houses thousands of people of poor communities.

According to Reuters, Vila Autodromo was inhabited by a fifth of the total population of six million locals and it was one of the few communities in the slums of Rio which, despite inadequate living conditions, was exempt from drug gang violence. Human rights groups have warned that in the initial phase of preparations over 200,000 people were at risk of being evicted from their homes. About 82,000 members of the police and military were dismissed to operate during the Games.