By HELCIO HERBERT NETO*
The two experiences in Maré, from the first housing to the occupation by the Armed Forces, reveal that the country lives with different temporalities
1.
During the 1950 World Cup, the National Radio accomplished a feat for the time: broadcast the landing of the Uruguayan team simultaneously to the neighboring country. Collaboration with the station The Voice of the Air It was one of the actions of a grandiloquent project – the redemptive future for Brazil involved the irradiation of the arrival of the athletes, who would be champions at the end of the tournament, a few kilometers from the homes that would form the Maré Favela Complex in the northern zone.
For sports coverage that, with digitalization, brings together different channels and reaches millions of users through platforms, the achievement seems unimportant. However, National Radio crossed borders and announced the splendor of the country. The delegation's plane landed at Galeão Airport, on Ilha do Governador, a neighborhood next to a recently opened road to integrate the then capital of the Republic with Brazil as a whole – an initiative linked to the same horizon of promises for the country.
In 1946, the highway known today as Avenida Brasil was opened to motorists: by cutting through the city from west to north and offering a direct alternative to reach the center, it transformed the then Federal District politically, socially and culturally. One of the consequences of the opening was the construction of houses along the road. Close to Guanabara Bay, the residences were mostly home to workers looking for an option to get to developed regions more easily.
The area was not relocated to public housing, sanitation or social development policies that were in line with the changes imposed by Avenida Brasil. It was through the population's impetus that new ties of sociability, solutions for coexistence and, ultimately, ways of life were established. The territories that make up the favela complex in the northern zone were built in this way, from the mismatch between major institutional announcements and the concrete achievements of ordinary people.
While the state communications system achieved its goal of promoting Brazil's greatness to the continent, the precarious reality imposed itself on the community. The presidency of General Eurico Gaspar Dutra, militarized and aligned with the United States, proclaimed internationally the successful image of the host of the first post-war World Cup. The moment was opportune. The proselytizing of the nation's ideal unfolded before delegations from different continents.
2.
This episode is no exception. In 2024, the most recent edition of the World Cup held in Brazil will be a decade old. Once again, Maré illustrates how distinct, almost opposite realities coexist on the same ground. International-standard arenas were built in twelve cities; in Rio de Janeiro, for example, the same Galeão Airport was expanded and modernized to receive the delegations for another final of the tournament – just like in 1950. And the unconfessable mismatch also came to light.
The military occupation of the Maré Complex began in 2014 under the pretext of ensuring security, at a time when Rio de Janeiro was in the spotlight around the world. Far from the global feats touted by Brazil, residents began to live with rifles paid for by the state in an action that promoted politicians who became nationally known ten years later. The commander of the operation, General Richard Nunes, soon became Rio de Janeiro's security secretary.
The appointment was announced during the federal intervention, led by another general: Walter Braga Netto. Defense Minister under President Jair Bolsonaro, the officer was also a candidate for vice president in the 2022 electoral race with the ticket that failed to be reelected. It is no exaggeration to recognize that the measure in Maré helped to give the uniforms a political air, in an unprecedented move since the redemocratization. From the barracks to the podium, the military has projected itself nationally.
The two experiences in Maré, from the first housing to the occupation by the Armed Forces, reveal that the country lives with different temporalities. Between the effort to demonstrate successful plans and the scarcity in the daily lives of ordinary people there is a gap – and that is precisely where Brazil lies. The territories in the northern zone, on the edge of the highway inaugurated in 1946, symbolize erasures in the promises surrounding the holding of the tournaments and the ambiguities in the daily lives of those who live here.
*Helcio Herbert Neto is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Cultural and Media Studies at UFF. Book author Words at stake [https://amzn.to/4aaGzfF]
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