After a police operation carried out today (7) to clear streets in the center of São Paulo occupied by drug users and people in situations of social vulnerability, a group invaded and looted a pharmacy and a mini-market in the region of Avenida São João, in the capital of São Paulo.
The Craco Resiste movement said that what happened today was a reaction to the violence frequently practiced by the State against this vulnerable population. Specialists have said that the intensification of police repression and the news that the city of São Paulo intends to adopt a policy of forced admissionsin addition to the judicial decision that allows the city hall remove tents of people who live on the streets of the capital, have increased tension between people who frequent Cracolândia.
Several videos that captured the looting of businesses in the central region have been circulating on social media since this morning. In addition to showing dozens of people robbing the drugstore, the videos also show civil guard agents attacking the invaders with kicks and batons.
According to the Municipal Secretariat for Urban Security, the police operation was carried out by agents of the Metropolitan Civil Guard (GCM), Military Police (PM), Civil Police and the subprefecture of Sé. The janitorial action that was carried out today, said the agency, is carried out “daily in the region”.
“The GCM acts to protect public agents during the execution of municipal services, in addition to also promoting the clearing of public roads, to guarantee the free movement of pedestrians and vehicles”, says the note from the secretariat. GCM says that after people looted products from the drugstore, the situation was brought under control. The note informs that there were no clashes, no injuries and that no one was detained.
By means of a note, the Military Police reported that it had strengthened policing in the central area. “Teams carry out searches to locate the authors of the invasions of businesses in the central area, which occurred this morning, after janitorial action carried out by city hall agents in the region”, says the note that was sent by the Secretariat of Public Security of São Paulo. “The images broadcast by the press are analyzed by the investigation teams, which work to identify and individualize the conduct of each one”, informs the note.
“We know that this type of reaction that the flow of Cracolândia has is a reaction that happens when violence and human rights violations by the State become even more exacerbated” said Roberta Costa, an activist from Craco Resiste, in an interview today The Brazil Agency. “These last few days there has been a very large increase in violence – not that it has ever stopped, and that was a reaction to state violence. It happened after state violence,” she added.
To think about solutions, the Craco Resiste movement is organizing a seminar, which will take place between April 21st and 23rd, in São Paulo. “Because of this, we and a number of other collectives are organizing a seminar to discuss this situation. The situation is serious and we have to debate these complex problems with complex solutions. We have to think, for example, of a space for use, a place where we can take care of these people instead of violating them even more”, he argues.
Crackland
Cracolândia is the name popularly given to a region in the center of São Paulo occupied by drug users and addicts. For 30 years, the flow lived around Praça Júlio Prestes, in the Luz region, in the center of the capital. In March of last year, they migrated to Praça Princesa Isabel and remained there until May, when a major police operation was carried out that ended with the death of a man. From there, the flow dispersed through the central region of the capital. Since then, police operations have been frequent to continue dispersing users who try to concentrate on a central street.
City hall and the police have defended that dispersion facilitates approaching users. Experts, however, have criticized police operations, saying they do not solve the problem, create insecurities and even hamper the work of health teams and social assistance. Residents and traders have also complained and protested against the dispersion of users through the streets of the capital’s center.
