里約熱內盧最大的羅奇那貧民窟（Rocinha）居民，聽見政府計畫要在他們社區周圍建築一道圍牆，反對聲浪立即迅速升起。
政府官員表示，這一道牆將會是一道「生態屏障」，目的是要防止肆意擴張又傷害力大的貧民窟（favela）擴張到里約繁茂的熱帶雨林。
不過，巴西的城市一直以來被不公和暴力所污染，很明顯地形成階級的區隔，分為住在山坡上的貧民窟居民和其他地區中產階級居民。許多羅奇那貧民窟的居民認為，這個大約3公尺高的屏障建築計畫背後，有著更深一層的陰謀。
「這道牆就畫分了『我們是住在貧民窟裡』，這是一種隔離政策，人和人之間的溝通終結於此，所以我們要集結起來反對建造這堵牆。」羅奇那居民協會的領導人安東尼歐‧費瑞拉‧德馬羅表示：「一定還有別的辦法來預防貧民窟擴展到雨林。」
羅奇那居民激烈的抗議，讓里約官員不得不重新調整原定的築牆計畫。
整個築牆計畫預計要建築超過8.7哩長的圍牆環繞羅奇那，還有其他12個被認為對周遭雨林有危害之虞的貧民窟。
築牆工程在3月便開始進行，到目前為止，已經完成好幾百公尺。
批評家援用柏林圍牆以及以色列——巴勒斯坦圍牆的例子，表示這是最新一波的政府安全政策，將貧民窟居民視為罪犯，儘管貧民窟居民人數佔了里約6百萬人口中的5分之1。
巴西人權部長保羅‧伐努奇（Paulo Vannuchi）表示：「築牆計畫一直不是個好點子。」
有些人評論，以環保議題為名的面具背後，是政府的安全政策；長久以來，里約執政者缺乏一致的政策，處理近年來貧民窟快速擴張的問題。
根據巴西國家地理及統計局（IBGE）所能提供的最新資料顯示，從1991年開始，里約貧民窟的人口成長了將近4分之1，到2000年，已經超過1百萬人。
「這些貧民窟社區裡存在的基本問題，並不會因為築了圍牆就解決；相反地，這些問題唯一的解決方式，是要讓貧民窟與城市融合。」佛盧米賽聯邦大學的教授霍赫‧路易茲‧巴波薩表示，他同時也領導了一個貧民窟支持團體。
隱藏的議題？
在里約數百個貧民窟中，有許多被擁有強大武裝的毒品幫派控制，讓貧民窟與這個海灘城市的其他部分更為隔絕。
儘管警方定期對貧民窟進行大規模的武裝掃蕩，還是無法完全控制這些地區。
有時幫派會利用里約的雨林做為躲藏或訓練的基地；這讓人更懷疑，這次築牆計畫主要目的是安全考量。
早在2004年時，有些官員建議為了安全目的築牆，當時引起公眾強烈抗議。
而這次築牆計畫所選擇的地點也激怒了許多人。
在13個預定要築牆的社區中，有12個位於富裕的南部地區，這裡是里約熱內盧豪宅、高級餐廳和著名海灘的所在地。
里約西部地區僅有一個社區預定要進行築牆計畫；儘管分析家表示，這個地區的貧民窟擴張的速度更為快速。
社會學家，同時是里約熱內盧大學的教授伊納喬‧卡諾表示：「種種行徑讓大眾懷疑，背後有一個公共安全考量，非常不同於他們口頭上講的環境保護考量。」
為了要主辦2014年世界盃足球賽，同時角逐2016年奧運主辦權，里約官員相當積極地要修飾里約難駕馭的一面，同時和改善它的犯罪問題。
不過，里約官方堅稱，築牆計畫純粹是為了要保護雨林。
根據環境保護組織SOS Mata Atlantica表示，到2008年時，里約的雨林已經比原本的大小減少了18％。
他們說，把這次築牆計畫拿來和柏林或以色列相比，就太荒謬了。
「這項計畫絕對沒有任何意圖要把任何人關在貧民區中，或是要隔離某些東西。這種念頭根本不存在。」里約公共建設部長伊卡羅‧莫拉諾‧尤尼爾表示。「那些環繞著你家、我家還有所有房子的牆壁目的為何呢？目的是要區分界線。到這個地方你能夠盡情發展，但再過去就是雨林了。」
住宅短缺
專家表示，住宅短缺這項根本問題嚴重影響里約，甚至整個巴西。
根據里約公共建設部長表示，在通常以葡萄牙文縮寫PAC為人所知的政府頭號基礎建設計畫中，巴西聯邦政府計畫要在里約熱內盧4個不同的貧民窟中，建築3,616間房舍。
3月時，政府同時也宣布一項340億里拉（約新台幣5,707億）的建築計畫，要為全國的低收入家庭建造屋舍，預計在2011年前，完成1百萬間房舍。
然而，評論指出，巴西全國房屋缺額達720萬間，預估有超過1億9千萬人無定期居所（在2000年時，是1億6千9百萬人），政府的計畫無疑是杯水車薪。
批評家表示，無論是地方或國家政府，都沒有太大意願要提供一個綜合的住宅計畫來取代貧民窟繼續發展擴大的狀況。
「幾十年來，我們在里約都沒有住宅計畫。」社會學家卡諾表示。「社會容納須要某種程度的經濟、社會和政治投資。但今日社會缺乏這一些。我們不幸地，擁有一個貧民窟裡沒有任何政治代表權的政治制度。」
批評家表示，與當地居民進行腦力激盪，可以找出替代方法來取代以牆做成的生態界線。在與官員多次討論過後，羅奇那貧民窟計畫要以小徑和公園來取代部分界線。
儘管非政府組織和部分居民強烈批評，其他的貧民窟居民則歡迎圍牆的建築，以及有關當局對當地罕見的注意力。
紐莎‧瑪莉亞‧艾維茲居住於里約著名雕像「救世基督像」凝視下的多納馬塔貧民窟。她抱怨圍牆的建造會讓她不能進入森林中採集藥草和水果；但她也說，如果這能夠阻止更多人搬進她的社區，那也是一件好事。
「如果他們是在街上築了牆，隔絕進出貧民窟，那麼才會變成社交上的孤立。」一名56歲的管家在她破爛的木板門口表示。
（路透）
When residents of Rio de Janeiro's mammoth Rocinha slum heard of government plans to build a wall around parts of their community, opposition to the idea quickly mounted.
The wall would be an "ecobarrier" aimed at curbing the unchecked and damaging expansion of the "favela" slums into Rio's lush tropical forest, state officials told them.
But in the Brazilian city tainted by inequality and violence and sharply divided between hillside slum dwellers and middle-class residents, many in Rocinha saw something more sinister in the plan for a 9.8-foot-high (3-meter-high) barrier.
"The wall represents a ghetto, an apartheid, the end of the communication between people, so we started to fight against the wall," said Antonio Ferreira de Mello, the head of a Rocinha residents' association. "There are other ways to prevent the growth of favelas into the forest."
Fierce opposition in Rocinha forced officials to scale back the planned wall there, but plans are in place to build more than 8.7 miles of walls around Rocinha and the other 12 slums identified as endangering nearby forests.
Construction began in March on one section and so far a few hundred yards (meters) has been completed.
Critics have drawn parallels with the Berlin and Israel-Palestine walls, saying it is the latest step in a security policy that criminalizes the slum dwellers who make up about a fifth of Rio's population of 6 million.
Brazil's Secretary of Human Rights Paulo Vannuchi said that "the idea of a wall is never a good idea."
Some argue environmental concerns are masking the government's security agenda and lack of a coherent policy to contain the rapid expansion of Rio's favelas in recent years.
The population of Rio's slums grew by nearly a quarter from 1991 to a little over 1 million in 2000, the latest data available from the IBGE national statistics office showed.
"The fundamental issues of these communities will never be resolved through walls. To the contrary, the issues will only be resolved through the slum's integration into the city," said Jorge Luiz Barbosa, a professor at Fluminense Federal University who also heads a favela support group.
HIDDEN AGENDA?
Many of Rio's hundreds of slums are controlled by heavily armed drug gangs that have further alienated them from the rest of the beach-side city. Despite regular, violent raids on slums, police have largely failed to bring them under control. The city's forest is sometimes used by gangs as a refuge and as a training ground, adding to suspicions that security is the main reason for the walls.
Recommendations by some officials in 2004 to build walls for security purposes triggered a public outcry.
The choice of location for the walls has also raised some eyebrows. Of the 13 communities, 12 are in the wealthy southern district, home to the city's glitziest homes, restaurants and its famous beaches. Walls are only planned for one community in the city's western zone, even though analysts say those slums are expanding at an even faster pace.
"All of this contributed to at least the suspicion that there is a public security agenda that is very different from the environmental agenda," said Ignacio Cano, a sociologist and professor at University of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Officials are keen to spruce up Rio's unruly image and tackle its crime problems as it prepares to be a host city for the 2014 World Cup and campaigns for the 2016 Olympics.
But they are adamant that the walls are purely aimed at protecting the forest, which by 2008 had shrunk to 18 percent of its original size, according to environment group SOS Mata Atlantica.
Comparisons to Berlin or Israel are ridiculous, they say.
"There was never an intention to put anyone in a ghetto or to separate. That doesn't exist," said Icaro Moreno Junior, head of Rio state's public works company.
"What's the function of the wall around your house, my house, all houses? The function is to define limits. Up to here you can grow, beyond is the forest."
HOUSING SHORTAGE
Experts say the root problem is a severe housing shortage affecting Rio and the whole of Brazil.
Under the government's flagship infrastructure program, known by the Portuguese acronym PAC, the federal authorities plan to build some 3,616 homes in four different Rio slums, according to Rio's secretary of public works.
The government also announced a 34 billion reais ($17.3 billion) housing plan for low-income families in the country in March, aiming to build 1 million homes by 2011.
But critics say they are a drop in the bucket in a country with a 7.2 million deficit of houses and a population that is estimated at more than 190 million people, up from 169.8 million in 2000.
They say there is little political will, either locally or nationally, for a more comprehensive approach -- a housing policy that would provide alternatives to more construction in the slums.
"We haven't had a housing policy in Rio for decades," said Cano. "Social inclusion needs a level of economic, social and political investment that doesn't exist nowadays. We also have unfortunately a ... political system where these slums have no political representation."
Brainstorming with local residents could have provided alternatives to marking out so-called eco-limits with walls, critics say. After talks with officials, the Rocinha slum plans to mark some of the limits with trails and a park.
Despite the strong criticism from non-government groups and some residents, other slum dwellers have welcomed the walls and the rare show of attention from the authorities.
Neuza Maria Alves, a resident of the Dona Marta slum under the gaze of Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue, complained the wall would block her access to herbs and fruits in the forest but said it could be a good thing if it prevents more people from moving into her neighborhood.
"It would only be socially isolating if they put up walls (on the streets) that blocked access to the slums," the 56-year-old housekeeper said at the front door of her wooden shack.
(Reuters) |
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