Trinational region has 39 thousand families in precarious housing

Maria de Lurdes de Oliveira, 50, arrived in Foz do Iguaçu when she was just over 3 years old. She grew up here, had a son, but to this day has not managed to find her own home. She is part of a legion of residents who are far from achieving their dream of having a roof over their heads.

Maria is one of the exiles from the Duque de Caxias Condominium, in the Morumbi neighborhood. Vacated in 2019, under the justification of risk of collapse, the housing complex housed 136 families, who were allocated to other affordable housing or returned to renting, as was the case with her, who now pays R$1 per month, with the help of her family.

“I loved living there, the place is nice and close to everything. I really like Foz, the Morumbi neighborhood.” Maria says that on the evening of February 20, 2019, a meeting was scheduled at Colégio Tancredo Neves. She went and, when she got there, she was told that all the residents would have to vacate their apartments. They were given five days to leave and said that the problem would be resolved within six months at the latest, she says.

She remembers the details of the date of the eviction: “Civil Defense and the police arrived, about ten cars, and Caixa said that we had to leave, that we were at risk and would collapse. Today, it’s been five years since we left, and still nothing.”

Maria's story illustrates a sad reality in Foz do Iguaçu. The city has 49 shanty towns or irregular occupations, 12 irregular subdivisions and the Duque de Caxias Condominium, which has not yet been demolished, according to data from the Paraná Housing Company (Cohapar).

This complex of irregular housing in the city comprises 1.625 housing units and 6.482 households. And this movement of expansion of occupied areas seems to have no end. Among the most recent locations are Vila Resistência, in Gleba Guarani, Congonhas and Bubas itself, the largest occupation in Paraná, with around 1,8 residents.

Professor of Architecture at the Federal University for Latin American Integration (UNILA), Cecilia Angileli studies the process of establishing favelas in the tri-national region of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina – which includes Minga Guazú, Hernandarias and Presidente Franco. There are around 350 informal and precarious settlements, with 39 thousand families and approximately 160 thousand people.

In the article “Favelas da Fronteira Trinacional do Iguaçu”, published with other researchers in 2022, she explains that the region is considered a heartland, that is, the heart of the continent or block, so it is strategically accessible to different locations, attracting people.

Even with the high number of irregular settlements, the region does not have a Housing Plan, Risk and Disaster Reduction Plan or even housing improvement or financing policies, the article points out.

The occupation of areas in the city is explained, in part, by the arrival of large construction projects, which ends up attracting migrants in search of employment. However, in some cases, the situation is different.

Bubas, for example, which emerged a decade ago, is the result of an overflow of surrounding areas, where there were already consolidated communities, previously occupied. Currently, some occupations occur due to pressure from the real estate market.

Social response is null

Cecilia explains that, historically, large infrastructure projects have directly or indirectly led to the densification of precarious and informal areas. The problem is that each time these projects are carried out, there is no response from the government, that is, public policies to accommodate the vulnerable population.

“When I announce a major project or begin its implementation, I bring these two forces to the territory, investors and vulnerable populations, who will dispute this landscape, which leads to land conflicts, situations of urban human rights violations and mainly to the process of slum formation, which can last for decades, which is the case of Itaipu itself.”

Another concern of the professor is in relation to climate extremes, a situation that will permeate life in cities from now on. She points out that there are people living in precarious housing, and the rains are increasingly challenging, as are the high temperatures and serious drainage problems.

And even so, the public authorities' response capacity, from the point of view of climate extremes and risk management, is almost zero.

Need for employment attracted the dream of owning a home

The major construction projects in Foz do Iguaçu were landmarks in attracting people and creating irregular housing. They attracted not only migrants looking for work, but also farmers who had been driven out of rural areas by agricultural mechanization and monoculture.

Jupira is considered the first favela in Foz do Iguaçu, which began to form with the construction of the Ponte da Amizade, which began in 1956. At the other end of the city, it was the construction of the Ponte da Fraternidade, at the end of the 1970s, which led to the emergence of occupations in the Porto Meira region.

 The excitement surrounding the construction of Itaipu Binacional attracted people from all over the country to Foz do Iguaçu. Many were unable to find work and ended up working in the informal sector in Paraguay and without a home to live in the slums.

Back then, in the 1980s, one of the areas that began to be occupied was the region of Avenida Costa e Silva, on the banks of the Paraná River. Historian Pena Catta mentions that in 1989, five years after the completion of the Itaipu construction, 7.986 people were already living in irregular settlements; in 1991, the number was already 12.997.

Many of these areas were made up of workers who were unable to find employment in the construction of the plant.

City Hall says Fozhabita has 9.300 applications, but only 4.500 are eligible

The City of Foz do Iguaçu, through its press office, reported that the municipality has already regularized approximately three thousand homes and another three thousand are in the process of regularization through the Legal Housing Program, in partnership with the Court of Justice and the Public Ministry.

Currently, the Fozhabita registry has 9.300 registrations, of which only 4.500 are up to date and eligible to participate in housing programs.

Over the last three years, the municipality has delivered several housing units, including 916 units in the Angatuba I and II and Boicy I and II residential complexes in 2020; 40 units in the Lagoa Azul Residential Complex – Condomínio do Idoso; and 25 units, in partnership with Itaipu, in Vila C, in 2021.

Regarding the situation of the residents of Conjunto Duque de Caxias, the condominium contracts are signed between Caixa Econômica and the borrowers, and the city hall is not aware of the specific procedures of these contracts.