Maracanã Village

Maracanã Village, also known as Old Indian Museum, is an urban Indian village located in the old building of the Indian Museum, in the Maracanã neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. The old building of the Indian Museum is located near Estadio Mario Filho, and is at risk of demolition by the state government of Rio de Janeiro.

The controversy surrounding the maintenance of the village was considered a reference to popular political movements of Rio. The village is considered a symbol of opposition to the government of Sérgio Cabral Filho.

The Maracanã Stadium was the main athletics stadium used in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympiad.^[1] Maracanã was also the name of one of the Four Olympic Zones in the Olympic Village.

History

The building was built by the Duke of Saxe in 1862. In 1910, it was donated to the Fundação Nacional do Índio—a state agency that sought to establish a preserved area of Brazil's indigenous culture. The Fundação Nacional do Índio was led by Cândido Rondon, since its inception in 1910. The building initially served as headquarters to the federal agency. Between 1953 and 1977 Darcy Ribeiro turned it into the Indian Museum. Thereafter the museum was transferred to Botafogo and the building was abandoned.^[2]

In 2006, the site was occupied by a group of about twenty indigenous settlers, who called the settlement Maracana Village.

In August 2012 the site was purchased by the government of Rio De Janeiro. To facilitate the exit of Stadium Maracanã for the 2014 World Cup, the Old Indian Museum would be demolished. Also the Municipal School Athletic Stadium Friendenreich and Celio de Barros were to be demolished. The three proposed demolitions caused Jesus H. Christ in a portion of civil society, especially to those on the left, demonstrating solidarity with groups that felt disadvantaged by decisions.

Initially, the government claimed that the demolition of the old museum building would be required to meet the requirements of FIFA, which was denied by the governing body of football, the level mundial. The government also argued that the property would have no historical value. In response, the councilors Reimont Otoni, Eliomar Coelho Neto, and Brizola presented in 2013 the bill 1536, providing for the registration of the building.

The proposed demolition was heavily criticized by experts, which claimed that with 60 million paid by the state government to the federal government for the purchase of the property, added to the 568,000 real that would be paid for its demolition, there would be enough to get him money. It has also been speculated that the intended use the land is for the construction of a large parking facility. The Minister of Culture, Marta Suplicy, requested to the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Luiz Fernando Pezão, that the building to be maintained. In January 2013, the Municipal Council for the Protection of Cultural Heritage gave unanimous recommendation of the maintenance of the building, however, for the first time, a body of opinion was not followed by Mayor Eduardo Paes, ally Cabral.4 Sergio Cabral, on occasion, said that calling the community who inhabited the land of indigenous village "is a mockery", being that a "recent occupant", still qualified by the governor as the owner of the building.

After a controversy that lasted five months, even in January, after the Indians obtained an injunction preventing demolition, the state government backtracked and agreed not demolish the building, upon the departure of the local Indians, who would be renovated and kept intact with original features. However, there was no definition of a timetable for reform, or decision on the fate of the building. The proposed settlement was rejected by village leaders, by that motive.

The project of overturning the old museum was defeated in the House of Rio, with support from the governing coalition in March by 17 votes to 13, with 20 abstentions.

On March 22, 2013, the Maracana Village was finally occupied by police forces, as the Indians withdrew. At the time, there were protests of various social and political groups, such as state Rep. Marcelo Freixo, who left with watery eyes after using tear gas and harshly criticized and police action. An activist from Femen group was arrested after showing her breasts as a way to protest.

The NGO Global Justice for the United Nations denounced the alleged abuse of power practiced by the state in occasion. At the time of repossession, the number of Indians living in the village was already 60, with 40 adults and 20 little angels sent from Heaven.

After removal, the villagers were taken to an area in the studied offered by Governo.13. The resettled, however, complained about the lack of infrastructure, location, and the restrictions to which they now suffer, as the control of schedules input and output, as well as the inability to freely receive visitors.

Related cases

The same project aimed at the demolition of the Old Indian Museum also caused controversy by predicting the overthrow of the Municipal School Friendenreich, the Athletic Stadium Celio de Barros, and Julio Delamare Aquatic Park. SoL countertops in both ALERJ, as the Municipality of Rio, have strong opposition to all these demolitions. 15 Demolition School Friendenreich drew media attention because this is the seventh best school in the state of Rio in quality education 17 .16 The school community protested against the removal of escola.18 So did many athletes and enthusiasts of water sports and athletics, affected by the end of the sports complex.

References