Barrio La Cascada, Medellín [Sala de Reacción]

[Music playing: "Casas Viejas"
by Francisco Canaro and Ada Falcón]

My name is Rolando Arenos.

I have lived in this neighborhood
for roughly 46 years.

We came here from the countryside,
from the mountains.

There was no water.
There was no sewage system.

We would have committee
meetings on weekends.

Taking out dirt, making piles.

And that's how we started to build
our neighborhood, bit by bit.

We used to beg the mayor
to install a sanitation system.

Not to give it to us for free.
To charge us.

He kept refusing to install
any public utilities.

So when we realized he was not
going to install any utilities

we took the electricity from over there,

we drank the water from Santa Margarita.

We went back to to the mayor, and he
said, "You all don't know when to stop."

"If you come back and break the water
pipes, I'm going to throw you in jail."

So we decided on collective action.

We made a proposal, and the mayor said,

"You have left me with no choice.
We will install the utilities."

We were born here.
We're staying here. No evictions.

This is the Cascada neighborhood.

Out of 185 homes, 75 have received eviction
notices due to the occupants' risk of death,

due to the crumbling structures,

caused by unstable incomes and other
events in the neighborhood's history.

The problem in associated with
this neighborhood because

it's on a piece of land that provides
structural support to a highway

and it's bound by

the Cascada ravine, the Chaguala ravine,
and Ocean Highway.

When they built the highway...

Interviewer: The highway
wasn't there before?

No. There was a road,
but it was very small.

Then they made it wider.

And when they made it wider,
they damaged the houses.

It looked like a handmade dirt temple.

Then afterwards, they put up a wall.

And even with that wall, they continued
to damage the neighborhood.

This community has had a problem
for nine or ten years.

They had to fix the highway,

which is directly above the neighborhood,

because it became unstable and
part of the mountain collapsed

and blocked that part of the roadway,
and there was a landslide.

My name is Maria Isabel Muñoz,
and I live in the Cascada neighborhood.

The situation has gotten worse since 1999,

with the widening of the highway
that goes towards the ocean.

Because of the construction of a wall,
carried out by the state,

which was not built according to code,

and did not take into account the runoff

from the mountain where they built
housing for displaced families.

They damaged the water from the aqueduct.

Because over there, on the side,
there's a big tube

And on this side, there was another one.

And they damaged both.

So the excuses started, more,
and more, and more of them

and we would tell them, "The water
is coming right through here."

Engineers came, but they said,

"The issue is, we can't start any trouble
with the government." Understand?

And they'd say to us,

"Why don't you leave the neighborhood?
Why are you still here?"

Why should we leave?

I'd argue with them,

I'd say, "Since you live somewhere
else, someplace nice."

"You couldn't care less. We do care
because we live here."

We live here, so we do care.

It's been 14 years.

Imagine that.

14, 15 years practically. And we've
been fighting the government....

Let's see what happens now.

I've put a lot of money into my house.

I haven't been able able to fix it
perfectly because I don't have the means.

But the house won't fall.
The way I have it -- it won't fall.

I have a lot of these columns.

I have about 11 of them .

You know area behind this neighborhood?

They're building a 33-story
building. Imagine that.

Interviewer: "That one won't fall."

Those buildings don't fall.

A friend of mine lives over there.

He has a small farm.

I talked to him recently, and he told me,
"Hey man, I'm fed up."

They keep asking him if he'll sell
his land. And he refuses.

It hurts me. A lot of people aren't
in any condition to move.

They're kicking us out
as if we were animals,

into these 32 square meter boxes when
we're used to living with normal comforts.

There are nice houses here.

My house is not big, but I was fine there.

Now they're telling me,
'Go live over there!'

They gave me an apartment
but I haven't taken it.

I told them, "I'm not taking it
because I'm not displaced"

I'm not going anywhere. You damaged
my house, now you have to fix it.

Once it's fixed, then
I'll decide what to do.

I receive financial assistance to help
pay my rent every first of the month.

They tell me they're going to take it
away because I haven't demolished my house.

because I haven't followed
the demolition order.

I told them I'm not going to demolish it
until you fix my housing situation.

I don't want an apartment.
I didn't ask for that.

I want an old house or a new house. Or
money so that I can choose whatever I want.

Whatever the government can give me.
And if not, I won't leave.

The government tells me, "Well, ma'am, you
have an order to receive temporary housing.

That's it. It's final. You have to go."

I said, "If you take away my subsidy and
don't fix anything, I'm going back home.

I'll fix it and stay there."

Why don't they invest more in our
neighborhood instead of kicking us out?

There's people that gave and fought a lot
to build a home for themselves.

Some people didn't care.

They took the apartment and they left.
And they're fine over there.

Everyone has their own opinion.

I was going to move into the apartment.

But it was so small that I said,
"I won't take it."

I asked the lawyer, "If I don't take the
apartment what happens?"

He said, "Ma'am, you're not required to
take it if you don't want it."

So I told him, "If I didn't have
anywhere to go, I'd take it.

But I have a house and
I worked hard for it."

The failure to prevent future
risks for these communities

has led to larger and more
complicated risks on the ground.

This could have been prevented,

had the original
construction had been done properly.

About 14-15 years ago, residents
began to file complaints

because their houses were falling apart.

The residents blame this, in part, on the
work that began about 10, 11 years ago

on the construction of a westward highway
towards the New West suburb.

Now there are about 15 thousand
residences in that area.

That's what they did up there.

There were lots of explosions over there.

Oh man, when they were building there,
everyday it was like,

BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM.

And that's what lived through right here.

We've had this problem in our
area for 14 years.

Houses deteriorate because of runoff and
underground water flow

caused by excessive construction
in the New West suburb.

It has been disturbing us but we haven't

gotten the attention
we deserve from the state.

We demand that the state,

and we demand that the City of Medellin,

gotten the attention
we deserve from the state.

seeing as the was damage caused

by excessive construction
in the New West suburb,

where the city has
put it's population growth.

We ask for help in the
recovery of our neighborhood

being that we've been here for 50 years
and that we want to stay here.

There is a social fabric here,
there are roots here,

and the City of Medellin isn't
taking this into account.

They say, "Leave the neighborhood."

But we say that we're going to stay here.

Or build good apartments here, big ones,
where we can fit our lives.

But these little apartments, they only
have 2 bedrooms, you understand?

We have the right to a dignified life and
they should respect our wishes.

We want to regain our rights,
since we've lost them.

We demand our neighborhood's recovery.
We breathe peace and tranquility here.

No more evictions. We were born here,
and we will stay here.

We don't want discrimination
in our neighborhood.

Don't violate our rights.

We demand the right to a dignified home.

We don't want more evictions
in the La Cascada neighborhood.

We want to continue being the same unified
neighborhood that we've always been.

We want to stay in our neighborhoods,
in our homes.

They need to respect that right.

We want to stay in our neighborhood,
where we were born and raised.

The problem they caused needs a just
solution. And no more evictions.

We are not displaced, and we do not
want to become displaced.

We have the right to put the pieces
of the puzzle back together.

It got messed up by large corporations
that came and, from one day to the next,

managed to destroy our community,

When the eyes of the world are upon us,
the government listens to us.

When these eyes are no longer on us,
the government goes blind.

"I've never seen you.
I don't remember you.

We've never discussed this. Leave a
message with my assistant.

Etc., etc., etc."

If you come here late at night,
you'll see there is no thievery going on.

There are no break ins. You can leave for
a month, and no one will touch your house.

You come back and everything
is like you left it.

In other parts of town, you go there
at night and you'll get robbed.

This is a really good neighborhood to
live in. It's great for raising a family.

That's why we're fighting.
So that they don't kick us out.

We don't know if this area could be
declared a priority interest

so the state could immediately make
the necessary investments,

But we also have to think about how
we could guarantee that it get done

with the lowest possible
impact on the residents.

We should uproot as few families
as possible, even temporarily.

How is this accomplished?

ThIs is a situation that needs
to be resolved by the government,

by local social organizations,
and by human rights groups

in order to undertake an analysis
and come to an agreement

with this community to decide what is
best to guarantee their rights to a home,

their rights to human development,
their rights to social development,

and the right to the roots
they have in this area.

We are few, but we are united.

And united we are strong.

And with that strength,
we will fight for our neighborhood.

Yes we can! Yes we can!

We are the future of our neighborhood!