The location of the first Trump Towers Rio was to be in two lots in Francisco Bicalho street, number 49. For seven years, the location had served as a home for 70 families, who occupied the empty spaces there and founded the occupation known as “Quilombo das Guerreiras.”, the “Warriors’ Quilombo”. A quilombo, historically, was an inland hideaway of refugee slaves.
According to the residents, the building had been abandoned for 20 years by the Rio de Janeiro firm Companhia Doces. It had no social use until it was occupied by the families. Maria Ivanilde de Moraes, 45, lived there for six years. She said the occupation was well-organised, with a communal garden, and they used collectivity to solve problems the state had not resolved. “I brought three children up there before we were removed,” she said.
The families said the state removed them in 2012 to make way for the Trump Towers. However, the building lay empty until Donald Trump became president elect of the United States in 2016. Shortly before his election, Trump announced that he was giving up on the development, even though the families had been evicted from the location.