This Friday (12), the City Hall of Rio de Janeiro launched a package of R$ 348 million, which represents the biggest investment in culture in the city in recent years. The program was designed based on the demands of culture makers in the city and the population in general, and its pillars are neighborhoods and the democratization of investments. Mayor Eduardo Paes said, upon launching the program, that “culture once again showed its strength, its ability to mobilize. The enormous cultural production capacity of this city. When people talk elsewhere about how sexy our city is, it’s because of the cultural production we have here in Rio de Janeiro. It was built for cultural beauty, but also for the cultural production of our people. Long live Carioca culture, long live democracy. Long live Brazil”. The municipality’s Secretary of Culture, Marcelo Calero, said that culture has to do with the city’s identity and also “is a social development sector, generates jobs, generates income, is the face of Rio”. “More than that too, [o plano] it is a way of planning ourselves, knowing that over the years we will have several programs that will be executed. Each program has a reason for being, contributing to job creation and income generation. We want cariocas to attend cultural spaces more and more, this is the most important thing”, said Calero. Activist and businessman Renê Silva, founder of Jornal Voz das Comunidades, in Complexo do Alemão, when he was 11 years old, said that the plan is a way to democratize public money, taking culture to other parts of the city. “Most of the time, unfortunately, companies, entrepreneurs and government officials invest more in events aimed at the south zone and Barra da Tijuca. And when you have this type of planning by the city hall, through the Secretariat of Culture, there is a democratization of access. More people will be able to participate. People from various favelas, from various peripheries, from the North and West zones. So this is a way to include the favela within the budget, within the investment in the culture of the city of Rio de Janeiro”, he said. Investments A large part of the resources, around R$ 262 million, more than 80% of the total, will come from the municipality’s own sources. The Viva a Cultura Carioca Plan also relies on funds from the transfers of the Paulo Gustavo Law and the Aldir Blanc National Policy for Fostering Culture. * Collaborated with Carolina Pessoa, reporter for Rádio Nacional
Agência Brasil
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