One year after the operation that dispersed the concentration of homeless people who use drugs, known as Cracolândia, in Praça Princesa Isabel, the center of São Paulo is experiencing an increase in fear and tensions on all sides. People who sleep on the sidewalks and activists complain about the increase in police violence and the dismantling of public policies. Residents and traders say they suffer from increased insecurity in the central region of the city. Soon after police action, at the time as part of the so-called Operation Caronte, commanded by the Civil Police, the concentration of people spread to several points in the neighborhoods of República, Santa Ifigênia, Santa Cecília and Campos Elíseos. A survey carried out in July 2022 by the Public Space and Right to the City Laboratory (LabCidade), at the University of São Paulo, identified 16 places of concentration of people. Currently, there are two major concentrations, on each side of Avenida Rio Branco, one closer to Santa Ifigênia and the other in the República region, in addition to some smaller groups. Worst moment The Metropolitan Civil Guard (GCM) forces the constant movement of people so that the concentration does not remain for a long time in one place. Periodic street cleaning actions are also carried out. At that time, the municipal guards also approach and search the people who are in the area. Long queues are formed to be subjected to personal search. Some objects, considered prohibited by the city hall, are confiscated. “When you think about people’s situation, it’s a very, very desperate condition. They have been circulating non-stop for a year and generating a series of conflicts with other actors in Cracolândia, which did not exist before”, says anthropologist Amanda Amparo, who researches Cracolândia from the point of view of race relations. Based on preliminary data from a survey that interviewed 100 homeless people, Amanda says that the majority of people who sleep on the sidewalks in the region see the current situation as one of the worst times. “It is the most violent, the police are the most violent and this strategy, of making people circulate, will not work from the point of view of ending Cracolândia”. History of violence Public defender Fernanda Balera sees a continuation of policies that have already proven ineffective in terms of improving the living conditions of the population. “And, once again, we are seeing GCM on the front lines of Cracolândia, which has already caused numerous problems. This history of civil guard action in the territory of Luz is even in court, in a public civil action that discusses what happens because of this practice. And that came back”, she says in reference to a lawsuit filed by the Public Ministry of São Paulo questioning the performance of the guard in the region. According to Balera, in addition to numerous reports collected by the defender, the action is based on the series of videos made with a hidden camera by the A Craco Resiste movement, which show GCM agents promoting surprise aggressions with tear gas bombs and pepper spray against people. in a street situation distracted or even sitting. Last Monday (8), TV Brasil caught the moment when a man was suffocated by four guards until he became unconscious and was taken away in a car. Dismantling of services For Fernanda, the state government and city hall carried out “a completely inefficient, super violent action” and did not show real concern in bringing solutions. “Because the issue is still there the same way it was before,” she emphasizes. The defender also warns of a breakdown of mental health care services. “A complete dismantling of Caps [Centros de Atenção Psicossocial] and services that are within the legal provision of the psychosocial care network. The creation of new services and new strategies completely outside the legislation and without any scientific evidence that this is the best approach”, he says. Fernanda’s criticism concerns the new services created by the state government, the HUB, inaugurated in April, and the Prolonged Care Center, created in February. Residents in Conflict The tense climate also affects those who live under one roof in the region. “With the dispersion [da Cracolândia], I think it increases the feeling of insecurity much more, especially when there is police action, whether from the GCM or the Civil Police”, says Pâmela Vaz, a student who lives with her parents in an apartment in Santa Ifigênia. “If they [policiais] they don’t treat the user in a dignified and respectful way, they don’t treat the residents here that way either. It is always very annoying and exhausting to have to ask the police for us to pass. Having to show a document, say where you are going”, he tells about the situation when the streets are closed by police operations. On the other hand, Pâmela faces difficulties because part of the day there is an agglomeration with hundreds of people at the door of the house. “After the dispersion of Praça Princesa Isabel, here it is taken over by the flow. And I’m not going to say that it doesn’t interfere with sleeping or resting,” he says. Even so, the young woman says that she tries to maintain a good relationship with socially unprotected people. “I try not to create any kind of conflict with these people, because they are our neighbors”, she comments. But not all residents of the region have this view of the problem. On Friday of last week (5), a demonstration was organized in front of the Campos Elíseos police station. “Well, as everyone knows, the situation on our street is getting worse every day”, said one of the texts that called for the act on social networks. “We just want the right to a safe and clean street!”, added the summons. More crimes The revolt on the part of people who live and work in the region is linked to a significant increase in thefts and robberies and occasional cases in which stores are invaded in dragnets. According to data from the State Secretariat for Public Security, in May 2022 the police stations in Campos Elíseos and Santa Cecília recorded a 110% increase in the number of robberies. In all the following months, the rates continued to rise, with a 74% increase in thefts in February of this year and 38% in thefts, compared to the same month of 2022. In April, however, a 24% drop in thefts and 13% in robberies, compared to last year. In the opinion of artist and social educator Raphael Escobar, the operations intensify this conflict. “You have to see what is happening before [dos arrastões], which is having police action every single day, taking everything from people, the only things they have with affective value. Then, [a violência] is a flow response to this situation. What is happening there is creating social chaos,” she says. According to Escobar, the constant circulation also makes it difficult for civil society projects that provide assistance to this population. “With daily police action, these people keep changing and it is very difficult for us, workers in the territory, to be able to find the people with whom we have a bond. That is, if you have a care project, it is very difficult to find and continue the project”. Psychiatrist Flávio Falcone, who also works in social projects in the region, believes that there is deliberate action to establish conflict between people “with CEP and without CEP”. “After the outbreak of Operation Caronte, Cracolândia started to bother three neighborhoods”, he said in an interview with TV Brasil. “From a health point of view, this operation is completely ineffective. There is nothing in science that justifies torture to get people motivated for treatment. What is at stake is to get these people, most of them black and poor, out of here. And the white bourgeoisie does not want to live with them, ”he adds. State government The State Department of Health reported that the Hub, a service that took the place of the former Reference Center for Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs, near Parque da Luz, carried out 3,500 consultations and 535 referrals for treatment between 6 and April 30th. According to the folder, the new service “exceeded by 10.4% the consultations that the old Cratod provided in the entire month of April last year and by 254.3% the referrals of patients for treatment”. The Secretary of State for Public Security said that it has carried out the integration of the Civil and Military Police and sees, at this moment, “the beginning of a reversal of the local scenario that has degraded local security for decades”. The folder also says that it has acted to “stifle drug trafficking” and curb property crimes. According to the secretariat, from January to May 7, 142 people were arrested and 345 kilos of drugs were seized.
Agência Brasil
Folha Nobre - Desde 2013 - ©