{"id":6113,"date":"2017-07-05T17:15:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T21:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=6113"},"modified":"2017-07-08T17:17:42","modified_gmt":"2017-07-08T21:17:42","slug":"at-what-cost-gentrification-sao-paulo-expels-drug-users-and-razes-buildings-to-revitalize-crackland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=6113","title":{"rendered":"At What Cost Gentrification? S\u00e3o Paulo Expels Drug Users and Razes Buildings to \u2018Revitalize Crackland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A drug user walks past fire during a police operation in a neighborhood known to locals as Cracolandia (Crackland), in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil June 11, 2017. REUTERS\/Paulo Whitaker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article, originally published on June 16 2017, has been updated to reflect the latest developments in S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Cracol\u00e2ndia.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

It was a rainy Sunday morning when S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s \u201cCrackland\u201d was destroyed.<\/p>\n

On May 21, 500 civil and military police descended on the downtown neighbourhood where, since the late 1990s<\/a>, hundreds to thousands of crack-cocaine users and drug dealers have congregated (hence its dubious appellation Cracol\u00e2ndia<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Throwing gas grenades<\/a> and weilding barking dogs, the police raided the area with a brutality<\/a> that shocked the city.<\/p>\n

Tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets were unleashed in a \u201cscatter\u201d model, sending residents running. Canvas tents and shacks that provide shelter for dozens of homeless people were ripped down, razed and burned.<\/p>\n

According to Mayor Jo\u00e3o Doria, the operation was meant to arrest traffickers<\/a>, who operate openly in the area, seize weapons and stop crack-cocaine users from gathering there. Some 50 people were arrested, and residents of buildings facing Cracol\u00e2ndia<\/em>\u2018s streets were evicted.<\/p>\n