Housing: Vocalist of the Clan “compromised and hopeful” with protest

A singer of the Clan, Manuela Azevedo, told Lusa today to have been “compromised and hopeful” with what she has been watching in Praça D. João I, in Porto, where she acted during the protest for the right to housing.

“ We see what's going on in this square and we don't understand why the world doesn't work out, because everything seems so much simpler when people meet face to face, talk, argue, raise their arms to say what they have to say, have a time to say it, say it and do it. This exercise of direct democracy that I saw yesterday [Monday] really made me very moved and hopeful with what might come in the future”, he pointed out, in an interview with Lusa.

Manuela Azevedo and Hélder Gonçalves played for the band at the opening of today's concentration, which took more than a thousand people to the square, to the House of Porto, and back to the place where since October 10 have concentrated and camped.

After heeding the orders of the PSP to dismantle the tents this morning, they returned, with Manuela Azevedo remembering that the human being is by nature “gregary, in community, with one another”.

“ It was an experience of how this really is the solution to everything. That is why, as a citizen, I am also very sad not to see politicians who have a lot to learn from what is done in this square and other squares in the country, and why do they not go down the street, why do they not come here and look people in the face and talk to them face to face?", he asks.

For the artist, popular assemblies such as those held in this place almost every day (today was the exception) “begin to be a little the solution to many problems”.

“ We see this, for example, in the fight in the Barroso Covas that is being done by a community. No one else is, no one in our power is helping them. They're not only defending your life, their home, their land, but they're defending our country. Because that territory is precious to us, for our water, for our landscape, for the sustainability of our country ", says.

The clan were then succeeded by Capicua and a poetry reading session, keeping a few hundred, less and less, throughout the night.

The evening also featured a video conference with several campings in Spain, including Madrid, leading the guests to sing “Grândola, Vila Morena” with other protests.

Moreover, many chants and slogans were heard in the square, replacing posters and banners, such as “Luxury Income, Garbage Sorted”, “Sons of Pide” or “April 25 always”.

Those present remain on site even though the organization pointed to a strong return on Saturday, without having confirmed any demobilization or mobilization, speaking only of “leaves” allowed by police forces, in a statement sent tonight.

The current protests for the right to housing and the cost of living in Portugal began in the city of Porto, on October 10, with about 1,500 protestors joining in Praça D. João I and staying overnight in camping tents.

On that day, the civic platform “Can’t live like this anymore” also promoted protests in Aveiro, Braga and Lisbon demanding control of the prices of essential goods and fuels, taxes on the extraordinary profits of large companies in the banking, energy and distribution sector and measures that respond to the housing crisis.

On October 15, the protesting movement in Porto, already in the shape of a camp, denounced a violent police charge during the early hours that caused injuries in 39 of the participants, two of whom were in serious condition, and in a police officer, and at night about 3,000 people joined the initial protesters, but eventually dispersed.

The tents returned to the site on Saturday and the camp spread that day to the city of Lisbon. Early this morning, while the protest of the northern city was over before the police intervention notices, the authorities removed dozens of tents in the capital and detained 55 people for disobedience, however released that will be heard on Wednesday by a judge.

New popular assemblies are also scheduled for today in Lisbon and cities like Coimbra, Braga or Faro.