Rio’s Favelas

Hi all,

Recently I wrote about the shootout between police and drug traffickers  in the upscale neighborhood of Sao Conrado, which happens to lie more or less between the favelas (slums) of Rocinha and Vidigal.

While there is probably not a large city anywhere that doesn’t possess richer and poorer neighborhoods, Rio may be unique in all the world for its juxtaposition in Zona Sul (the South Zone) of very wealthy and very poor bairros, or city districts. This juxtaposition is partly due to Rio’s topography and partly to its history. You can’t really begin to understand Rio if you don’t have some understanding of its favelas.

While Rio dates back to 1555, until around 1900 it was much smaller than today. Until about 100 years ago, Zona Sul hardly extended past Botafogo. Leme, Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon were still populated largely by fishermen. But successive waves of expansion in the downtown area and in Zona Sul in the early 1900s, the 1940s, and again in the 1970s brought both an influx of inhabitants, mostly poor laborers from the northeast, and also resulted in the forced relocation of large numbers of residents to make room for new development. As a result, favelas sprang up quickly. Continued migration of poor from the north and northeast fed the favelas, until today an estimated 20% of Rio’s population lives in these communities, which are clustered mainly on the hillsides above the legal communities.

The communities in Zona Sul are the richest in Rio, but virtually all now have their favela “sisters”. Leblon has only one favela adjoining, and Urca (where Sugarloaf and the military academy are located) has none, but throughout the rest of Zona Sul the hillside favelas look down over the legal communties.

Rio’s favelas likely are not what you might imagine. Yes, they are cramped, and roads narrow. Many homes can be accessed only by navigating narrow alleyways on foot. Crime, particularly drug trafficking, is common in many of the favelas, and some favelas are effectively ruled by traffickers.

But in the favelas, few live in real shacks. Most homes are built of brick. All but the poorest have running water and electricity. The favelas are largely self-contained economies. You’ll find shops and restaurants, and even banks. The favelas are not the backward slums you might imagine. Consider the following true story…

A couple of years ago I went to a birthday party in Pavao, a favela adjoining Ipanema. I was a friend of a friend of a friend of the host, and one of only a handful of white faces at the rooftop party. Still, I was welcomed warmly. I had brought my camera and quickly became the designated photographer for the festivities. At the end of the evening, the host and I discussed how best to get copies of the pictures to him. After a quick conference, he produced a flash drive, which he lent me. The next morning I uploaded pictures from the camera to my computer, and then saved them off to the flash drive, which I passed back to our mutual friend to return to the host. Curious, no? Living in a favela with a computer – and internet access!

I should also mention though that upon leaving the party my little group passed three armed teenagers strategically placed on the rooftops, no doubt stationed by the local drug lord and watching for infiltraters from rival gangs.

Not all favelas are run by drug lords, though. Rio’s SWAT police are stationed in the favela of Catete, which therefore is quite peaceful. I go there on occasion to listen to jazz at a hotel there called The Maze. (Yes, you can find hotels in the favelas, too.)

The more violent favelas are targeted for clean up by the “UPP”, which I believe stands for the ”unification and pacification police”, crack teams whose job it is to oust the drug lords and bring the favelas more into the mainstream. But the task is, excuse the pun, an uphill battle. The movie Trope de Elite (Elite Troop), based on actual events, shows how graft and corruption within the various police and governmental hamper efforts to remove the traffickers. Traffickers, for example, may be tipped off about raids by police officers on the take.

Interestingly, the conventional wisdom here is that foreigners are at less risk in the favelas than residents. The reason is simple: The traffickers know that robbing or harming a tourist will bring the police. Of course, if you visit a favela you would be advised to go with a guide who knows that favela. Don’t wear jewelry and be careful where you point your camera.

A curious – and to me, slightly humorous – fact is that the favelas often occupy highly desirable locales, with spectacular views and cool breezes to take the edge off of the summer heat.

Yes, the favelas are interesting places, and home to a couple million Cariocas (residents of Rio). We will explore them more later. But now I must turn in.

Until  soon,

John

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