Rio De Janeiro City Government Spends $32M On Ridding Olympic Park Of 'Slum' Neighbor

Rio de Janeiro's city government "has begun dispossessing houses" in lower-class borough Vila Autódromo, which neighbors the Olympic Park, by "claiming the land is necessary for construction" for the 2016 Olympic Games, according to Vinicius Konchinski of UOL. As a result, the city, which has compensated all those who have lost their homes, has spent "seven times what would be necessary to urbanize the entire borough." At least R$95M ($31.7M) in compensation payments "have been paid" by the municipal government to former Vila Autódromo homeowners, and this year alone 70 properties "have been dispossessed." However, with about 15% of that amount, it would be "possible to remodel all of the Vila Autodrómo to keep more housing up and still complete all Olympic construction." Vila Autódromo Residents Association President Altair Guimarães said, "It's becoming more and more complicated. It's hard for a poor borough to fight against an Olympic construction that, afterward, will become a high-class neighborhood" (UOL, 5/16).