SAO Polio — On a recent May afternoon, Marcelo Colaiácovo was driving to his pub in Downtown Sao Paulo when he observed something strange: the hundreds of drug addicts who had patrolled the area for years had all disappeared. For ten minutes he searched for them but could not discover any. Also disappeared was the stink of their garbage being handled by city hall employees.
“I felt this unusual peace,” remarked the 42-year-old Sao Paulo native. ” Everyone had vanished. But, how come?
Colaiácovo’s bar-museum is situated on one of the outskirts of Cracolandia, or Crackland, a vast metropolitan Sao Paulo region that for decades has housed hundreds of drug users, usually laying on the ground or jaywalking with pipes between their lips.
But by May 12 the scenario had shifted.
Only police personnel were observed where for decades users of drugs predominated. Outside were shop owners and neighbors frightened about muggings discussing. Pavement that until recently showed scattered shoes, single socks, broken pipes and, occasionally, feces seemed perfect. Once a background to the human drama, some of the graffiti on crumbling Crackland could now be seen as the improvised shelters—made of cardboard and fabric—were gone.
An ambitious local government project to permanently modify the area has resulted in the stationing of police personnel in the area and scaring of people into other parts of the city.
