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News > Latin America

Brazilians to Defend the ‘Right to Housing’

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    The banner reads, "Eviction during the pandemic is a crime. Zero evictions." | Photo: Twitter/ @maweissheimer

Published 17 March 2022
Opinion

The Zero Evictions campaign summons citizens to find a solution for the poverty generated by the capitalist economy and its large real estate companies.

On Thursday, the "Zero Evictions" Campaign called on Brazilians to take to the streets to protest against the forced eviction of families from their homes.

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A Supreme Court decision suspending forced evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic expires on March 31. If this protective measure is not prolonged, half a million low-income people will be evicted from their homes.

For this reason, human rights defenders and social activists organized rallies in 21 cities, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Salvador, Maceio, Fortaleza, Manaus, Belem, Florianopolis, Porto Alegre, and Curitiba. To show the magnitude of the problem, the Zero Evictions campaign pointed out that 42,499 families can be evicted in the state of Sao Paulo alone.

“The search for profits cannot be above life. Faced with unemployment, extremely low wages, and the absence of public housing and social security policies, we occupy buildings and land that were previously empty, idle, and unproductive,” Zero Eviction said in an open letter.

“There we built our homes, gave our children a safe haven, and planted crops to feed ourselves. Now, however, our right to shelter is under threat once again.”

The campaing encompasses organizations such as the Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST), the Movement of Popular Struggle, the Popular Brigades, the Movement of Homeless Workers (MTST), the Union of Movements for Housing (UMM), the Popular Movements Central (CMP), the "Struggle for Housing" Front (FLM), the United Movements for Housing (MUHAB), and the Sao Paulo Federation of Commercial Associations.

Zero Evictions summons citizens to find a solution for the poverty generated by the capitalist economy and its large real estate companies. "The housing issue is not something merely legal. It is something structural, as evidenced by hundreds of thousands of people who are at risk of losing their homes at this very moment."

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