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A movement against the violation
of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
Um movimento contra a violação
de direitos: a Estrada do Engenho resiste
Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger [I]
Caroline Krüger [II]
Cristine Jaques Ribeiro [III]
Abstract Resumo
The article discusses the guarantee of the right Este artigo discute a garantia do direito à mo-
to housing starting from a reflection on a Public- radia a partir de uma reflexão sobre uma Ação
-Interest Civil Action aimed at the removal of Civil Pública (ACP) voltada à remoção da comu-
the Estrada do Engenho community, in the nidade da Estrada do Engenho, no município de
municipality of Pelotas (Southern Brazil). Based Pelotas. Com base em um movimento enraizado
on a movement rooted in the critical dialectical no método crítico dialético, tendo como esteira
method and on militant research, the State’s a pesquisa militante, a ação do Estado é proble-
action is problematized, and the history of the matizada, e rememoram-se a história da comu-
community, the transformations that have taken nidade, as transformações ocorridas e as táticas
place, and the tactics developed by the real estate desenvolvidas pelo mercado imobiliário e pelo
market and the government are recalled. The poder público. Questionam-se, ainda, a produ-
article also questions the historical production of ção histórica de racionalidades excludentes e os
excluding rationalities and the problems arising problemas oriundos da má gestão das políticas
from the poor management of public policies. As públicas. Como resultado, um trabalho coletivo
a result, collective work is developed and lines of é desenvolvido e são construídas linhas de ação,
action are built, enabling the destabilization of the possibilitando a desestabilização do processo,
process, protecting and preserving the ways of protegendo e preservando modos de habitar da
living of the local community. comunidade local.
Keywords: right to housing; housing public Palavras-chave: direito à moradia; política pública
policy; resistance; Pelotas; Estrada do Engenho. de habitação; resistência; Pelotas; Estrada do
Engenho.
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 Artigo publicado em Open Acess
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2236-9996.2021-5011.e Creative Commons Atribution
Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
Introduction This situation led the researchers to
organize a technical-social and legal support
team to a better understanding of the question
This writing is the result of a work that has been raised, in order to enable the community with
developed since 2016 in the city of Pelotas, information for seeking the guarantee for the
state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS). In which, constitutional rights of the threatened group.1
originally a group of Architecture and Urbanism This process took place through the weekly
students and Social Service researchers, bound monitoring of the community, visits where
to a Social Policy and Human Rights program, were worked from listening and remembering
had been working on mapping the areas of the facts that led the community to occupy the
occupation identified by the municipality as territory, their memories, their relationship
irregular. They began to monitor and provide with the city, the links established with/in the
technical assistance to a community that had territory, and the processes of significance
been threatened by a housing removal process produced. In this way, ways of living2 belonging
filed by the Federal Prosecution Service (MP), were perceived, a situation that led to reflection
which began in 2008. on the development of strategies aimed at
In this context, Civil Class Action (Ação guaranteeing the rights of the community.
Civil Pública – ACP) n. 022/1.14.0007280-6 A semi-structured questionnaire
(Rio Grande do Sul, 2016) was aimed at was built firstly, which was applied to the
removing the community resident in the 56 families living in the area. Through this
Estrada do Engenho corridor. The lawsuit questionnaire, the socioeconomic conditions
had been in court for eight years and a of the community and the infrastructure
Conduct Adjustment Agreement (Termo de of each family were recognized and the
Ajustamento de Conduta – TAC) was drawn information that had been collected from the
up and signed by the mayor at that time and exchanges and listening was confirmed.
the prosecutor of the MP, in which they had Following the information accessed by
committed and dated the housing removal, the questionnaire that was provided, meetings
without ever having heard the community were held where the focal group technique
residing in the location that had become the was worked (Image 1). Through this technique,
target of an action for violation of rights. a researcher accompanied by his work
The approach of these researchers to group (in this case, an interdisciplinary team
such a context took place at first, in order to composed of four members), and groups of
understand the process that unfolded over ten residents representing their families, the
the territory inhabited by the community. target public of the first stage of the research,
Nevertheless, they had encountered a total met in the same environment for a previously
lack of information regarding the legal action agreed period.
by the threatened group, in which the families With the dialogue and discussion
only knew the date set as the limit for their produced, data were collected about the
stay in the place – November 15, 2017. investigation. So that, through local people
282 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021
A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
Image 1 – Focal group work Image 2 – Public inquiry about the local
with the community people removal
Source: Estrada do Engenho (2017). Source: Estrada do Engenho (2017).
understanding and knowledge of collective The research has become a strategy
demands, lines of action were built. It is worth to approach prosecutors, and a means to
mentioning that the focal group technique was access information about the legal process.
recommended so that the proposed themes It is also an instrument for mobilization and
were discussed, and not only answered denunciation of the violated rights, and a tool
directly. Resulting in a collective construction, for action within a broad spectrum of critical
which allowed a space for reflection and reflection (Netto, 2011).
analysis for/by the group itself (Morgan, 1997). Thus, to understand how the relations
Based on this construction, lines of of production and appropriation of urban
action were organized in order to broaden space in the capitalist system have been
the debate and problematize questions developed, a militant research was created.
related to the process, seeking answers from This research perspective allows researchers
entities regarding the legal situation, since the to share and participate in the socio-political
community was not part of the ACP (Civil Class project of their field. Where, abandoning
Action). Public inquiries were first organized the position of observers, they can become
(Image 2), where the non-participation of agents of transformation. Involvement in the
representatives of the judiciary led to the enrichment of the research process, where
development of street activities such as there is the possibility of recognition and
walking and occupation of public areas to horizontal construction of knowledge with the
denounce the situation. As part of these agents involved in each stage of the process
actions, a research project in the field of Social (Cunha; Santos, 2010).
Service was developed – built and in part Based on an analysis of the content of
presented here – based on workshops held the ACP, the juridical process had as a lens
with the community. for observation of the complex reality posed.
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 283
Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
Thus, the origins of the disputes placed over to the working class and to historically
the territory were recovered in the history of marginalized groups, in the participation
the community. Without, however, attempting of the processes of social transformation,
to exhaust the reflection or the discussion bringing an effective contribution to change
process on the theme worked on, but seeking the reality exposed, markedly unequal
the transformation of the situation presented (Bringel; Varela, 2016).
in the observation of movements and conflicts This conflict is presented as a strategy
structuring the dialectic process (Netto, to confront the processes of appropriation of
2011). In problematizing the possibility of urban space by the State, which aim to obtain
instrumentalizing the ACP in its approach to a maximum profit through the expropriation and
multiple reality, with historical and documented exploitation of men and nature, producing a
incidence of diverse actors and interests. "model of social injustice," which is faced here
by those who oppose the current structure
that benefits small groups (Nigro, 2007, p. 17).
The great challenge of the work in
A necessary debate this context is to face the understanding of
the transversal social structure, and act in
Promoting this discussion in the academic field order to diagnose where these processes
is attained through the comprehension that are established, and materialize practices
the university as a producer of knowledge is a that corroborate with it. For, understanding
political space of conflict between social forces that the socio-spatial division of cities was
(Papaléo, 1991), a universe that produces defined by rationalities inherited from the
knowledge validated as scientific that "has colonial process – which deny the absorption
been currently evoked by those who intend to of the excluding mentality of those placed in
reduce policies [...] to mere technical solutions" vulnerable situations by urban and housing
(Acselrad; Mello; Bezerra, 2009, p. 31). These policies – the diverse territories became
are considered to be necessary to confront, areas of articulation of the dehumanization
through the production of resistance that of subjects, exposed to practices of multiple
starts from the recognition and/or production exclusions, and may have, according to
of new knowledge capable of banishing "judgment", changed the course of their lives.
exclusion, at any level. Insurgents, groups that were placed before
For this reason, the reflections exposed such situation resist, and thus, from lived
here carry the restlessness of another experience, subvert paradigms, produce other
paradigm of knowledge production. Based epistemologies, new knowledge.
on the movement as the foundation for In this regard, the theoretical debate
the development of reflexive processes, built on the relationship between researchers
which are the search for the association of and the community, aligned with actions of
the experiences from social up to academic practical mobilization, made this reality public.
production. In tension, recognizing in the It became apparent that the territory (Saquet;
conflict the possibility of greater openness Silva, 2008) under study, located on the
284 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021
A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
shores of Canal São Gonçalo, was the object multiple interests in dispute to be reported by
of dispute after having aroused the interest the press (Cogoy, 2017; Munaretto, 2017; Coll,
of the real estate market, on the rise there 2017). A petition presented by the group was
(Idealiza, 2014). accepted by the person responsible for judging
In this context, the real estate market the process, making the community part of it
began to impose constructions of large and and enabling the problematization of issues
varied real state projects that transformed related to the territory to be made in court.
the region, and made it a place of confluence Therefore, the reflection was needed on
of multiple interests and conflicts (Filho, the roots of the problem and the actions of the
2017), placing in confrontation over the State in the face of the expansion of the real
locality distinct ways of living, characterized estate market, a situation that was aggravated
as civilizational projects in practical and by the Civil Class Action ACP. The lawsuit filed
theoretical opposition. This strategy makes the by the Federal Prosecution Service (MP) against
image and the idea of the citadins – inhabitants the Municipal Government accused the latter
of the city as a whole, with rights and duties to of negligence in inspecting occupations in
the city – disappear, reducing citizenship to the Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs). And it
citoyens – those to whom the State recognizes framed the territory to these terms, imposing
the status of bearers of rights (Lefebvre, 2001). penalties on the resident families, not on
In the meantime, the first way of living the MP. The removal of the community was
is characterized with the concept of polis, demanded on the grounds that it was in an
which translates as a place of encounters APP, causing damage to the environment and
and confrontations that materialize life being at risk. A problem widely addressed in the
in the city (Vainer, 2013). This concept, literature on environmental justice, where those
placed in relation to the territory in focus, causing the damage are not held responsible,
allows its apprehension as a space where with the burden falling on groups placed in a
distinct groups meet, building modes of situation of vulnerability (Acselrad, 2010).
existence, exchanges and integration with the C o l l e c t i ve l y, st u d i e s h ave b e e n
environment, recovering the idea of citadins. undertaken and problematizations have been
The second is recognized as a city, and is built on this panorama, stimulating reflection
characterized as a project that materializes in on this reality in the face of the ACP. Thus,
the spaces the mercantilization, objectification research was carried out in alliance with
and submission to the market and private the community, committing to analysis and
economic interests, excluding those who were reflection to understand and unveil other
previously unable to compete in the market of processes that could be hidden in state and
the cities (Vainer, 2013), and concretizes the legal practices. These historical processes
idea of protection of the citoyens. reflect the deepening socio-environmental and
The studies, research and theoretical territorial inequalities in the locality, a cadre
problematizations, aligned with the social also aggravated at the national level (Acselrad;
action of the agents, made it possible for the Mello; Bezerra, 2009).
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 285
Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
A contribution in a theoretical and district was formed – the Passo dos Negros
practical way has been made to the construction (Black Pass). It was renamed a century after
of strategies capable of transforming the Estrada do Engenho (Gutierrez, 2001).
concrete reality. The research was developed T h e f i rst re fe re n c e s a b o u t t h e
from a socially committed perspective, based municipality, dated from 1758, relate its origin
on the production and reproduction of social to the Estrada do Engenho. In the year cited,
contradictions in a politically positioned the then governor of Rio de Janeiro, Count
manner (Bringel; Varella, 2016). of Bobadela, made the donation to Tomás
Luís Osório of sesmaria, which was divided
and originated the first estancias that hosted
the charqueadas that started the city. This
At the origin of the city movement of territorial division was driven by
the roots of exclusion the economic development coming from the
supply of food, especially the charque (jerked
In order to understand how the dispute beef) – an activity intrinsically dependent
processes that unfold over the territory under on black labor – was what gave rise to the
analysis was reached, it is pertinent to develop Passo dos Negros (Black Pass), and from it the
a brief remembrance of the origin of the city municipality (Map 1).
of Pelotas and the genesis of the Estrada do In this place, still at the end of the
Engenho community. It is worth mentioning 18th century, the first wharf of ships was
that this remembrance, built together with built, where the enslaved and goods coming
the community, seeks to situate the historical mainly from Europe were received. This was
role of the territory with regard to local the scenario that made the territory under
urbanization process. This perspective makes analysis the main access door to sesmaria,
possible the observation of the city as a work, where the tax collection station for the
which is built and consumed, and from which Portuguese crown was established, and from
its inhabitants are objectively and subjectively where the saladeril production was sold – a
appropriated – a social construct, fruit of process developed according to Gutierrez
social-spatial inter-relations, and a commodity (2001) for almost a century.
for capitalism (Kowarick, 1993). The historian Al-Alam (2017), writing
It is conceptualized that the place from about the origin and development of the
which the families were to be removed, since city, points out that there was an attempt to
their origin, presents itself as a space where found the city in this territory, where projects
groups excluded from state protection – in were developed aiming at greater population
principle black slaves, and later, groups of concentration. This was not accomplished due
workers in extremely vulnerable situations – to the interests of Father Felício and Antônio
met to live and develop their work activities, dos Anjos, who were trying to sell land from
even before the constitution of the city. Thus, their properties to the north of the place.
before being elevated to parish in 1812, in the About this fact, Gutierrez (2001), also points
then sesmaria de Pelotas, the first camp of the out that the problems generated by the waste
286 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021
A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
Map 1 – Passo dos Negros (19th century)
Source: Gutierrez (2001, p. 14w3).
of the charque production launched in the and influence, having in its genesis private
Channel that surrounds the territory, and the interests overlapping with the collective
intense concentration of slaves that circulated benefits. Historically, the Channel that
in the locality, were used as subterfuge for permeates the city - where the Estrada do
the realization of the interests of the land Engenho is currently located - was the target
owners. This situation prevented the first of the discharge of waste. This was initially a
urbanization project developed for the city consequence of the first stage of development
from progressing. of the municipality, driven by the intense
From these initial notes, it can be commercial activity based in this region, where
observed that in its origin, the city is related the goods produced by slaves were controlled
to a donation involving actors of great power (Al-Alam, 2017),
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 287
Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
After this phase, with the city already and the territory is renamed: o Passo dos
consolidated according to the planning of the Negros becomes the Corredor da Estrada do
land owners, in the second period of local Engenho (Defender, 2)
economic development, the activities are From the installation of the mill, the
marked by the processing of rice. This activity territory that was already marked by the
marked the transition period between the presence of the black population, receives
19th and 20th centuries, and again made the addition of a village of workers that
the marginal space of the Canal São Gonçalo sustain the operation of the mill (Rosenthal;
central to economic interests. On the banks of Gonçalves, 2014). A few decades later, a
the Canal, the first rice milling company was fishing village was established there, which
built in the region (Rheingantz, 2004) - the ended up not being benefited by the urban
Engenho São Gonçalo - also called Engenho infrastructure development movements that
Pedro Osório. The local morphology is changed occur in expansion in the north of the city.
Map 2 – Localization of Estrada do Engenho on the road map (2008)
Source: Pelotas (2008b).
288 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021
A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
This is because, at the beginning of the 20th the territory starts to operate the liabilities of
century, the territory on the banks of the the unequal and combined urban economy
Canal was considered a region not conducive (Oliveira, 2013). While the noble areas receive
to housing construction. Without value to the the bonus of the urbanization process, Estrada
market, it becomes in the terms of Martins do Engenho operates the burden of a dynamic
(1997) a space of marginal, unstable and in which the advanced aspects of the capitalist
precarious inclusion. mode of production are nourished by the
Thus, the territory was inhabited by production of forms of backwardness, which
original communities, traditional groups unfold and feed back simultaneously.
and those unable to access the formal land The denial of the benefits of urbanity
market for two centuries (Gutierrez, 2001). and access to the city creates the negative –
And unlike the valued areas in the city, for the non city – where infrastructure, equipment
which investments in infrastructure works and services are lacking, sustaining one
were developed, the Estrada do Engenho was of the intrinsic contradictions of capitalist
"forgotten", and the spaces that consubstantiate modernization: the negative of development
the social hierarchy were created, shelters that feeds back and drives the latter. The
for the heirs of alienation (Maricato, 2015), (in)production is strengthened in the lack
spaces of operation of accumulation by urban of infrastructure to potentialize exclusion
dispossession (Harvey, 2005). (Martins, 1997), deepening inequalities
In order to remain on the banks of (Oliveira, 2013).
the Canal, in this territory lacking public Until the 1970s, no urban action to improve
investment, the different groups that occupy the conditions of existence of the population of
it have ended up developing particular ways of Estrada do Engenho was developed, only sparse
relating to the environment, building houses works of low or no quality. The first project
with their own technologies, consistent with planned to qualify the territory appears only in
their relationship with nature and financial 2001 (Ribeiro, 2017). It is worth mentioning that
resources, related to their work activities, this project does not count with the presence of
focusing on their way of living. In this way, the population historically resident in it, as can
enslaved people who were once locked up in be seen in Image 3.
senzalas became workers thrown into slums, However, this project was not executed
waste pickers and service providers of all kinds, (Image 3). The exclusionary rationality that it
to which were added fishermen dependent on expresses and its influences will be evident in
stilts -people from outlying areas, excluded the implementation of the III Municipal Master
from the city and the formal labor market. Plan (Plano Diretor Municipal – PDM), which
Forming an area of potentialization of occurred seven years later. In this plan, it will
the processes of exclusion (Martins, 1997), be possible to observe issues that relate the
the territory was consolidated as a region interests of the market to those of the MP and,
for housing of those placed in a situation of of ACP. These being responsible for triggering
extreme vulnerability, about which the real conflicts over the territory, as will be discussed
estate market and builder has no interest. In specifically below.
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 289Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
Image 3 – Project of requalification of São Gonçalo river channel
Source: Ribeiro (2017).
When the air changes: was eliminated, and the housing model that
lowered wages, or expulsion to areas without
the III Master Plan infrastructure, was imposed (Moura, 2006).
and the market interest From the late 19th century to the
first decades of the 20th century, local
One of the historical management marks newspapers present reports that expose the
in Pelotas is the development of actions to tension of builders for the municipality to
substantiate market interests. In legislation of benefit the development of their projects.
1881, which deals with the demarcation of the The market demands that arose ranged from
urban perimeter, it is possible to glimpse such the supply of land and the development of
strategies. In this strategy, in order to meet legislation to the execution of public works
the interests of the industrialists who wanted aimed at facilitating processes and meeting
to place workers in working-class villages, the interests of elites (Moura, 2006). Thus,
the construction of slum tenements on the the State began to execute measures
outskirts of the city center was prohibited. As a aimed at a greater subjection of workers to
result, the main housing model of the workers entrepreneurs, through strategies that enable
290 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
the increase of accumulation. A process In article 88, paragraph 2, he emphasized
of "industrialization at low wages" with that one should "avoid the expulsion of its
an equivalent in a low-wage urbanization residents, through the use of legal instruments"
(Maricato, 2015, p. 27). (Pelotas, 2008, p. 36). Then, it acknowledged
This situation, although varying the territory as a Special Area of Social Interest
according to macro-structural economic (Área Especial de Interesse Social – AEIS) type
issues, has not changed over the years. Since 1, which is located in "an area of environmental
1968 with the passing of the I PDM (Pelotas, preservation, occupied by low-income
1968), which was replaced in 1980 by the II population" (Pelotas, 2008, p. 38), classifying
PDM (Pelotas, 1980), the issue has worsened. it as an Occupied Permanent Preservation Area
This is because the planning of actions aimed (Área de Preservação Permanente Ocupada –
at the materialization of even bigger processes APPO), where the land use property should be
of social exclusion are spent. Precarious adapted to its social function.
territories are developed, concretizing the In articles 60, 87, 88, 90 to 93, the
maxim of poverty binding, the deprivation of legislation presents a series of actions that
basic urban infrastructure, creating territories should be executed in the territory. Pointing
where the stigmas produced in the 19th to strategies for generating work and income;
century were strengthened (Kruger, 2018). land regularization; development of urban
The III PDM (Pelotas, 2008), guided infrastructure; availability of resources for
by the Statute of Cities (Brazil, 2001), has housing recovery; environmental recovery of
registered important advances in the direction degraded areas, etc. (Pelotas, 2008). However,
of guaranteeing rights to the municipality's the non-execution of these actions opened the
inhabitants. The document reinforced the possibility for the market to design real state
need to adopt measures aimed at fulfilling the projects for the site, counting on the facilities
social function of the city and the property. It established by law.
acknowledged the multidimensionality of the In this sense, the III PDM discoursed
municipality's potentialities, and reiterated the about the need to transfer the centrality of
guarantee of the right to the city as "the right the municipality to the region of Estrada do
to urbanized land, housing, environmental Engenho, treated as the region of São Gonçalo.
sanitation, infrastructure, transportation and It claimed that the urban center of Pelotas
public services, work and leisure" (Pelotas, (near the region) should be preserved (Pelotas,
2008, p. 2). He also emphasized the importance 2008). These issues added up, focus on a
of democratic and participatory management in process of valuation of the territory by the
the implementation of territorial policies, and market, in order to develop a set of real estate
in six different articles specifically addressed and commercial enterprises in the region.
the territory of Estrada do Engenho, explaining Works materialized without respect to the
the procedures that should be developed for its environmental legislation in force, as can be
integration with the city. seen in Images 4 and 5.
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 291Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
Image 4 – june of 2010, territory before Image 5 – october of 2016 territory after
the soil filling of swamp areas the soil filling of swamp areas
Source: Google (2017a). Source: Google (2017b).
According to state environmental the materialization of actions of exclusion on the
legislation, in article 155, paragraph 1, areas groups that inhabit the place, thus enabling or
along rivers or water courses, mangroves, operating an urbanistic surgery, i.e., the removal
marshes, springs and swamps are considered of those who were historically excluded in
APP (Rio Grande do Sul, 2012), and could not previous urbanistic processes.
be landed. However, authorizations were It is important to reiterate that this
obtained for the construction of the projects. situation demonstrates the reality of many
Parallel to these processes, which began other communities scattered throughout the
to occur after 2008, was the denunciation to country, which have the access to housing and
the MP regarding the occupation of the APP work denied under the demands of a market
area in the territory, by "groups that would driven by historical structures, which reinforce
be causing environmental damage". Thus, the the conditionalities imposed by public policies
first factors pointed out in the ACP did not for access to rights. This is a reality that guides
relate the construction of large enterprises the Brazilian context, making itself the rule,
in the context of conflicting interests. Rather, since it concerns the largest portion of the
they weighed on the community – families country's population (Maricato, 2015).
who historically inhabited the territory In this scope, by deepening the analysis
It was then observed that the legislation of the ACP, from the analysis of content (Bauer,
used to criminalize the historical occupation was Gaskell 2012) – a methodology that enables
the same neglected as regards the soil filling the construction of connections with the
of the swamps for the new buildings. Thus, proposed objective –, we sought to answer
it became a problem that the legislation that the question of research. This was related to
underlies the ACP was being used to facilitate the documents and legislation dealing with
292 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
the history of the territory and its inhabitants. It did not recognize the rapid increase in the
Thus, the researchers were led to an immersion occupation of the APP by the large real estate
in the problem lived by the community. ventures, which did not dialogue with the
Thus, the path taken was to deepen the historical forms of occupation. This covered
reflections on the complexity of the issues up the actions of the market that produced
that involve the plot of urban relations in the marinas, high-income condominiums, and
territory, building possibilities to overcome the commercial enterprises, while at the same
problem posed. The disputes expressed were time accelerating the vulnerability of the
constantly rethought in order to understand community. Making the inhabitants a reflection
the appropriation strategies and their impacts of the deep social inequality materialized in
on the territory and the population living there. the denial of the fundamental right to housing
By appreciating the dynamics as manifestations (Pereira, 2013), a series of apparently distinct
of the social issue3 – an argument for claiming movements that conflicted in the place.
equity in law enforcement – social legitimacy Another movement is highlighted by
was sought for the struggles (Acselrad; Mello; ACP, which pointed to the increase in the
Bezerra, 2009). number of families that have turned to
occupation in the last decade. This is because
the legal action did not recognize that this
group was not able to enter the formal housing
Estrada do Engenho Resiste: market, victimized by unemployment and an
a movement increase in rents, not achieved by the housing
policies of the period – which should have the
From the non-implementation of the statutes purpose of serving them – in the case of the
presented by the III PDM on the Estrada do My Home My Life Program (Programa Minha
Engenho to the lack of recognition by the ACP Casa Minha Vida – PMCMV), which turned the
of the historical constraints imposed on the most profitable sectors to the market (Pinto,
community, the conflicting interests created 2016; Kruger, 2018).
a catalyst that drove the expulsion process. As a consequence, families not served
Situations superimposed on the rhetorical by the program came to the area to secure
justification of the legal process that the housing and minimize their subsistence.
territory is an APP, in which the families This movement was denounced in the ACP,
living there would be causing damage to the which does not separate historical resident
environment and finding themselves at families from the group afflicted by economic
risk – the structure and principle of the ACP variations and the crisis, which sought
that justified the removal of a space targeted housing in the area. Thus, the population
for mercantilization. found in an area of risk, as the lowest income
Consequently, a crime was attributed families, are responsible for occupation
to the municipal government, accused of not and damage. Thus, those who are driven by
supervising the occupation of the APP; and financial valorization to these spaces, groups
a penalty was imposed on the community. and projects that do not dialogue with the
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 293Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
pre-existing forms of life, which impose Pelotas. Year of promulgation of the III PDM,
themselves and cause as much damage as of the availability of resources for the PMCMV
the others, are protected. The MP is also (Galhardo, 2008), and the beginning of the ACP.
protected, accused of negligence in dealing Later, the information and its developments
with the APP inspection, and responsible for will be cross-referenced and related, of
the planning of the PMCMV that did not reach particular importance to the apprehension,
the priority populations, launching them into as they are variables that substantiate the
a process of aggravated vulnerability. These problematization about the processes of
groups were not held accountable. exclusion and territorial mercantilization
In these terms, many are the spent in recent years on the municipality. A
concealments, such as the socioeconomic panoramic view of the events with impact on
profile and historicity of the distinct groups the case of Estrada do Engenho is created.
that occupy the territory, a structure founded It is based on the survey conducted
on stratified relations of class and race. between 2008 and 2009 by the municipality's
Obscuring that among those harmed by the land regularization supervisor, Jorge Alves,
ACP there are original groups such as: families presented at the City Council in 2013, which
of descent from slaves; workers who built reports that Pelotas had 156 areas of irregular
the city through their work in the charque and clandestine occupation (Alves, 2014).
(jerk beef) and in engenho (rice mill). These These areas are characterized as "areas
populations were responsible for the economic in which, although approved by the City
development of the municipality until the mid- Hall and other organs [...] when necessary,
20th century. Besides these, there are artisan physically they are not executed, or are
fishermen who need the Canal to develop their executed in mismatch with legislation or with
work activity. And finally, those excluded from acts of approval," regarded as areas that
the formal labor market, unable to compete "did not obtain the administrative approval
in the rental market, a group marked by the or authorization of the competent organs,
movement of financialization and elitization of including not only the City Hall, but also State
the housing market - one of the main marks of and Federal entities" (Alves, 2014, p. 3).
this sector in the country (Boulos, 2015). Being The study points out that in these 156
necessary here, an opening to deepen this areas there were on average 72 plots of land
debate in the case of Pelotas, and introduction in each one, so it would be approximately
in this discussion of the extent of the local 11 thousand plots of land. In each of these,
housing problem. there were about three people per family, and
numbers close to 390 people per area. Thus,
there were more than 60 thousand people
Occupation and resistance living in irregular and clandestine areas. In
addition, data from the Brazilian Institute of
In this item some notes will be brought about Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro
the areas of irregular occupation and housing de Geografia e Estatística – IBGE) census for
production projects from the year 2008 in Pelotas in 2010, which coincided with the
294 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
survey, show that the city had about 130,000 needed regularization, improvements and
housing units and 328,275 inhabitants. investment in the territories in equipment
Crossed the numbers, it can be seen that more and services (Alves, 2014). According to
than 8% of the housings in the municipality Pinto (2016), the author who presents data
were irregular and in these areas were more from the Caixa Econômica Federal Housing
than 18% of the population (IBGE, 2017). Representation, these actions were not taken
In 2013, the city's Local Social Housing (Rehabpel, 2018), and there remains an urgent
Plan (Plano Local de Habitação de Interesse question: why did the MP adopt as a policy
Social – PLHIS) was launched. This study the construction of new housing units, to the
highlighted a deficit of 13,598 homes in the detriment of regularization?
city, a calculation that included makeshift Continuing the analysis, between
shelters, precarious, cohabitation and families 2013 and 2016 41 PMCMV projects were
with excessive rent (Plhis, 2013a; Plhis, 2013b). delivered, through which 7,665 housing units
It became visible what the housing problem were produced, corresponding to 56% of the
was, since the deficit was more than 10% of municipality's housing deficit (according to
the dwellings. Where, of this percentage, more the deficit pointed out in 2013), built with
than 80% was a qualitative deficit, i.e., existing public resources. In addition, it is important
housing, but in an irregular or clandestine to highlight that the changes promoted by the
situation – housing that needed documentary Ministry of Cities since 2003 in the housing
regulation, urban infrastructure, equipment sector, especially through the PMCMV, "were
and services. aimed at combating the housing problem for
Four years later, in 2017, a new report the low-income population" (Pinto, 2016,
points out that between 2013 and 2016 the p. 55). However, according to the figures
land regularization of 10 allotments was analyzed, this population represented more
carried out, and that another 10 would be in than 80% of the municipal deficit in 2013.
process, figures that are equivalent to a little In addition, if instead of working
more than 6% of the 156 irregular allotments the data from 2013 on, one analyzes from
in 2013 (Alves, 2017). This regularization was 2009 (2009 - 2016), year of production start
done only with regard to the documentary through the PMCMV in the municipality, and
issue, so that only property titles were data collection period of Alves (2014), the
delivered, without the installation in any of number of constructions goes from 41 to 60,
the locations of equipment and services. and the housing built goes to 11,919 (Pinto,
This situation expresses the understanding 2016). In view of this, it can be seen that
of land regularization and the perspective of the housing production through the PMCMV
guaranteeing the right to housing of the PM. should have ended the deficit of the low-
Continuing the analysis of the surveys income population – the population for which
done in 2013, it is pointed out a deficit of the program was developed, according to its
more than 13 thousand units (Plhis, 2013a), guidelines. In this problem, the population
about 11 thousand were makeshift shelters, living on the shore of the São Gonçalo
precarious residences, etc., dwellings that Channel, at Estrada do Engenho, is included.
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 295Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
It is noticeable that from these analyses, occurred was an inversion of values in the
the answers to the accusations made by the act of materialization of the program, which
MP that weigh on the community of Estrada turned to the most lucrative ranges and to the
do Engenho emerge. In order to better market, incurring in the increase of irregular
highlight them, the MP's accusations are occupations. This fact was verified not only in
presented as quests: the municipality in question, but throughout
• Why did the number of families occupying the country (Boulos, 2015).
the territory increase? (a question that still
goes back to the established discussion about
the enactment of the III PDM)
• If expulsion of residents through legal
Why resist?
mechanisms should be avoided, how did this
situation come about? The increase in occupation on Estrada do
• Why does the ACP require removal? Engenho followed the growth of occupations in
• Why the MP, which built the law of the III the municipality as a whole. This situation can
PDM, didn’t oppose the MP? Or, why did the be explained by observing the beneficiaries
MP not demand the planning of the III PDM of the planned housing policy in Pelotas, to
instead of demanding the removal? which the areas considered as irregular are
• As in a scenario of high housing production, the negative from which the urbanization
"aimed at low-income populations," is there a process is fed, and from where the relative
significant increase in occupations on Estrada urban surplus value is extracted. This issue is
do Engenho? (Rio Grande do Sul, 2016) a part of the farcical orchestrated good that
• In view of the high number of housing legitimizes the projects of dominant groups
production and land regularization processes for the cities, creating false consensus, giving
that have been developed, has the number way to business interests, and not meeting the
of irregular occupation areas in the city popular demands (Vainer, 2013).
decreased? The PMCMV was the main housing
On the contrary, the number of policy planned in the city in the last decades
occupations did not decrease, instead of and through it more than 11 thousand new
that the irregular occupations went from houses were produced (Pinto, 2016). Just
156 (between 2008-2009), to 162 (in 2014), like the ACP, the MCMV carries the discourse
reaching 205 occupations (in 2017 – last year of of solving structural problems, with specific
data update), where "more than 90 thousand actions, but only strategies to maintain the
people" reside in irregular areas, which interests of elites, favored by public entities
represents "almost 1/3 of the population" of (Nabuco; Primi; Nabuco, 2014).
the municipality (Alves, 2017, p. 26). Influenced by private promoters,
Thus, it is noticeable that in Pelotas the produced with low quality and high
production of dwellings through the PMCMV profitability, the impacts of (My House My
could have ended the housing deficit for Life Program - MCMV's property development
the low-income population. However, what in the city are remarkable. Even in the face of
296 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
studies that pointed out the housing problem It is also noted that such an extension
(more than 80% qualitative), the production of the urban perimeter did not occur
was 76.49% for groups with income above 3 fortuitously, as it "made possible the design
minimum wages. However, when divided by and construction of two of the developments
income group, 23,96% of the production was belonging to the PMCMV" (Pinto, 2016,
for group 3; 52,45% for group 2; and 23,59% p. 225) in areas that go beyond the urban
for group 1. These data represent, that besides limits – demonstrating the influences of
a priority inversion on the public policy private developers on the evident legislation.
planning act, it occurred the prioritization of These interventions were specifically aimed
the most lucrative ranges for the market. Also at facilitating profitability, as they impacted
pointing out why the lack of progress towards more than 11,000 housing units produced
the solution of local housing problems. with public funding. However, the PMCMV
Instead of investing in land regularization and did not even reduce the number of irregular
urbanism, it was opted for the production of occupation areas, making the processes even
new housing, through a process focused on more complex.
serving the groups with higher income. In the city transformed into an economic
In addition, municipal laws were subject, of a mercantilized, entrepreneurial
created and changed during the planning of nature, "the power of a new logic has
the PMCMV in Pelotas, with the intention of been established, with which the direct
favoring builders and private developers (Pinto, appropriation of the instruments of State by
2016), among them, Law 5.603/2009, which private business groups is to be legitimized"
instituted the social interest housing program (Vainer, 2013, p. 89). Through the provision
"Pelotas Decent Housing". This program of resources, the administration of zoning
made possible the construction of the largest and land parceling laws, as well as the
number of dwellings within the PMCMV, development of urban plans, the decision
without presenting addenda on their quality on the city's production was relegated to
to the users, and bringing construction tax the State. Problems that, once visualized,
exemptions to their executors (Pelotas, 2009). structured the questioning of the statements
Another law sanctioned was the made by the ACP, pointing out that the lack
5.963/2012, specifically on December 28th, of supervision by the MP on certain processes
three days before the end of the mayor's was strategic. Similarly, the negligence in not
mandate in the period (Pelotas, 2012). This planning the instructions provided for in the III
law changed the urban perimeter of the city PDM, which by not addressing the needs of the
and allowed the production of houses totally vulnerable population, established a ballast for
without infrastructure, favoring the reduction the effectiveness and development of the ACP.
and even the dispensation of green areas and Consequently, by demanding the
areas of public use inside the developments, removal of the community living on the bank
as it was previously provided by law, allowing of the Canal São Gonçalo, without considering
construction harmful to the urban tissue the complex plot that was developing in
(Kruger, 2018). the city, especially in the territory, the legal
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 297Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
process concealed the dehumanization and the territory. An updating of the old actions to
objectification of groups historically victimized perpetuate the unequal and combined model,
by the silencing and neglect of the State. An reflecting the contradictions of the capitalist
action that reflected the materialization of mode of production.
processes of subalternization, criminalization It is important to clarify that Image 6
and persecution of the community, making was edited to visualize how the territory has
it possible for the heirs of a racist and elitist been altered, from the appropriation of the
heritage to enjoy their bonus of exploitation - urban voids found in it by the construction
social privileges. market, and the number of plots of land that
This rationality, represented by the are still without construction - areas that still
ACP, delimited the definition of subjectivities allow the development of new projects. Also,
and physical spaces that determine the city, through Image 6, it can be seen that the target
reproducing the model of advancement community of the removal process occupies
based on the interests of market agents, an area that delimits a boundary between
leaving a trail of exclusion and segregation the new developments and the access to the
that reinforce a predatory supremacy. In natural resources found. This appropriation
this respect, Image 6 demonstrates how a establishes new milestones for the conflict,
conservative modernization is developed over and the development of other problems:
Image 6 – Real Estate Development of the last decade and urban voids in the territories
Source: Google (2017a, edited).
298 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists • Since the area on the banks of the São • And last but not least, what should be the Gonçalo Canal is considered at risk – as role of the MP in this situation? defined by the ACP – why is this only suit for On each of these complex questions the vulnerable population? new analysis and writing can be developed. • Being made the execution of public policies However, what has been sought since the first programmed by the III PDM – specific to the approach to this reality, and which has become site, dealing with the development of urban the objective of this project, is to safeguard infrastructure, sanitation, etc., and pointing the rights of the community. This attempt has to the construction of specific projects in become a tension for the non removal of the accordance with environmental legislation – original and traditional communities, in the would the families threatened with removal search for social protection and guarantee of continue to cause environmental damage? the rights of the families living in the place • Returning to the historical remembrance (Pereira, 2013). made at the beginning of this writing, is not It is also understandable that the the Channel target of the discharge of waste execution of the PCA within the previously in the course of history – first of the charque, established frameworks would cause then of the engenho – and today of all the irreparable damage to these groups and could groups that without the service of sewage leave the way open for the development collection reside in the territory? And who are of new processes and financial exploitation the most affected by such contamination? projects on the place. These projects, without • Aren't the artisanal fishermen who need benefits to the guardians of the territory, who a balanced environment for the development would bear the burden of their exploitation of their work activities? And can't or shouldn't so that private producer agents could obtain they be the greatest guardians of local the bonus, retrofitting the rationality of urban biodiversity? development that has been the keynote in • Since the housing policies (PMCMV) the country and that materializes in the cities are worked in a way that contemplates the (Boulos, 2015). priority populations and their development, In the case at hand, the removal of and constitutional rights such as housing and the residents from Estrada do Engenho was work are guaranteed to these groups, why are prevented after a long journey of community they not contemplated and need to look for mobilization, studies, research, alliances and these areas in order to establish residence and denunciations. This process involved countless develop unregulated, and need protection? agents, technicians, researchers, and extension • Since the PMCMV is working in its scope, workers who transformed the defense of the not only as a possibility for the construction of community's rights into their objects of work. new housing, but as a powerful instrument for This joint effort and articulation allowed for regularization of land ownerships of precarious the creation of diverse studies in the body of settlements, could this reality not have been which this writing is found. Projects developed transformed? with the community, and presented to the Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 299
Nino Rafael Medeiros Kruger, Caroline Krüger, Cristine Jaques Ribeiro
responsible authorities after the residents produced were listened to and accepted,
and their support group began to focus on the and resulted in a new TAC agreed upon.
process. Alternatives were produced to resolve Thus, welcoming the alternatives presented,
the conflict, without the community's rights a new agreement was established among
being neglected. Among the actions planned the entities involved. In this agreement, the
are: the requalification of the territory; the MP committed itself to supplying material
repair of housing; and the development of and developing infrastructure qualification
activities to improve working conditions and works, and the MP made financial resources
income, for fishermen and waste pickers. available for the construction of new
Still in 2017, the problems and tensions dwellings for the community – an agreement
made the community and its support group made official on March 5 of this year (Rio
part of the legal process. Thus, the reflections Grande do Sul, 2020).
Image 7 – Celebration of the signing of the agreement between
State Prosecution Service and Pelotas City Hall4
Source: Rio Grande do Sul (2020).
300 Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021A movement against the violation of rights: Estrada do Engenho resists
Final considerations issue – can become instruments that deepen
models of unprotection, territorial and socio-
environmental degradation that impact on
The investigation led to the understanding and attack life, a contradiction that drives the
that in ACP the historical processes that led capitalist system.
the resident groups to occupy the space, and The tensioning and problematization
thus their relationship with the environment, of public practices with influence to such
were not considered. Nor was the legislation reality, related to the activities developed
to protect the rights of such a community by construction agents around the territory,
respected, which made the legal process brought to light the interdependence of
an instrument to criminalize poverty and the processes. In other words, economic
allow the prosperity of a sociability project and political actions of influence over the
based on the expropriation of those who are exclusion and commodification of territory,
already poor. which are linked to a very specific perspective
In this way, the reflection on the specular of State management, in which the primacy of
interests of which the territory is a target – a the market, which acts as a regulatory agent,
fact justified by the urban voids in the area is imposed.
(Image 6), and for which the MP had been This project, in its initial attempt to
developing projects without the participation understand the relationships established
of historically resident communities (Image over the territory, verified the process of
3) – reinforced the observations and the mystification provoked in the execution
problematization of the State's actions in of coordinated actions by public agents
dealing with current legislation and legal in mismatch with the social reality, and
instruments referring to the outskirts with the dangers of the ideologized use of
communities and those in vulnerable legal statutes. It tried to become a tool of
situations. This leads to a questioning of articulation and resistance to the violation of
the factors that influence the processes and rights. In this way, it developed into a process
strategies for planning public policies, since of building emancipatory knowledge, capable
these are materialized in models of exclusion of instrumentalizing researchers, collectives,
potentialized by segregational processes, social movements and the residents
which aggravate the manifestations of the themselves (from Estrada do Engenho), for
social issue. the search of protection and guarantee of the
The investigation of the strategies fundamental human right to housing.
and actions developed through the ACP In this way, concrete possibilities are
analysis has led to the understanding that presented to align academic research, from
programs and actions presented as necessary its methods and techniques to collective
processes for the protection of life and the demands, treating the manifestations of
environment, by disassociating themselves the social question as a path to concrete
from the material relationships that circulate transformations. This is when the university,
them – such as manifestations of the social a political space of conflict between social
Cad. Metrop., São Paulo, v. 23, n. 50, pp. 281-306, jan/abr 2021 301You can also read
