SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (BDCi) – – The new headquarters of the Museum of Contemporary Art of São Paulo, whose dedication took place on Saturday, January 28, was the site chosen for a large demonstration against police abuse in the evacuation of 2,000 people in the Pinheirinho district in Sao Jose dos Campos.
The demonstrators were protesting against the violence used during the repossession, while the Secretary of Culture of the State of São Paulo, Andrea Matarazzo, argued the ‘pro-Pinheirinho Act’ position.
There was much conflict amongst the people in attendance who supported the Secretary with those supporting the victims of the act.
Also on Saturday the Secretary of Housing of Sao Paulo, Sidney Beraldo deflected criticism from the General Secretariat of the Presidency, through the Minister Gilberto Carvalho, regarding the evacuation.
Many speculate that Carvalho, a proxy for President Dilma Rousseff, is using the tragedy for political purposes to bolster the president’s slate of candidates in an election year in Brazil.
Rousseff has already commented on the evacuation, calling it an act of “barbarism” by the Pinheirinho military police.
By Cibele Clark Fonte: Estado de São Paulo Foto: Paulo Liebert/AE 31 January 2012
6:32p.m. P.S.T.