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The Olympics of Misery
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RIO DE JANEIRO – When Rio de Janeiro was chosen as an Olympic city in 2009, nobody foresaw a Brazil in such a decaying state as it is today. The then President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who celebrated victory effusively, never imagined that the country’s economy could make a turn for the worse. Back then, and despite the global economic crisis, Brazil saw a GDP growth of over 5%, which kept everyone optimistic. The crisis came later, under the presidency of president Dilma Rousseff, who has faced the economic crisis plaguing the country; the worst recession since 1990. Rousseff also had to dribble the biggest case of corruption of the democratic history of Brazil, most of which was perpetrated by her Workers Party. Three months before the Olympic flame arrives in Rio de Janeiro, the South American giant must resolve some issues if it wants to have a memorable event. It is the first country in three decades that receives the Olympic in a situation of economic recession and the first in South American to host the games. By now we still do not know who will command the country during the Olympic competitions. Dilma Rousseff is going through its worst political crisis of the six-year term. A few days ago the Chamber of Deputies approved a petition to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president of the Republic with 367 votes in favor and 137 against. At the same time, the popularity level of the Brazilian Congress reaches the minimum of both legislatures and 82% of the country disapproves of the way it manages public affairs, according to the Brazilian Institute of Opinion and Statistics (IBOPE). Last month the Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB), allied to the government, decided to definitively break basis and as if it were a domino, the vast majority of parties forming coalition disassociated from the government, leaving Dilma alone to her own luck. The resulted in the resignation of two key ministers who had been heavily involved in organizing the games. They were Henrique Alves, the Minister of Tourism and George Hilton, the Minister of Sports. Soon, the Senate will hold another vote and if 41 votes are achieved in favor of the dismissal, Rousseff will be out of politics for 180 days until the end of the political trial. This political crisis, makes it difficult to spread the positive image of the country as it is living through a horrible period. Everyone is perplexed. Most people in Brazil still remember the impeachment of former President Fernando Collor, yet that process was not convoluted by the current political and economic crisis. Brazil is divided and young people increasingly want to be part of political parties tapering to left and right. One hundred days before the start of the 2014 Brazilian World Cup only five of the twelve stadiums had been opened. The same concern seems to repeat itself two years later. While the Olympic Park, where competitions like swimming and gymnastics are supposed to be held is practically finished, but the infrastructure where events such as cycling, horse riding and basketball will take place have become one of the nightmares of some politicians. The new Minister of Sports, Ricardo Leyser, expressed concern about the backlog of works. The same was heard from the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes. ”The hardest thing is to create an artificial river for canoeing competitions,” he admitted. The endemic problem facing Brazil with the lack of foresight and mismanagement responds in part to cultural issues, but also economic ones. Last month, Brazil announced a cut of more than 200 million euros in the initial budget for the organization of the Games. One of the most affected works is the new metro line linking -Barrio Ipanema to Barra where several disciplines will be played. This train line is also part of the legacy that the Games would leave to the city. “If the subway construction is not completed, things will be a nightmare. It is not hard to imagine being stuck in endless traffic during the Olympic Games. Another legacy that was promised was the new bike path, which opened three months ago. A few days ago two people died and one is missing due to the collapse of a piece of the track that was affected by strong waves. The section skirted the coast of Rio de Janeiro city along nearly 4 km and joined two very emblematic beaches. The project, which cost nearly 11 million euros, was built by a company under investigation for money laundering as part of Operation Lava-Jato, the biggest corruption case in the democratic history of Brazil. Perhaps, the most difficult promise to keep for the local organisation is the official opening of the Guanabara Bay, the largest in the country. It is supposed to be the place where Olympic sailing activities will take place, but athletes do not show great enthusiasm. And they are entitled to such pessimism, as the Bay has become the dumping ground for more than 50 polluted rivers. In 2009, when the state capital won the title of Olympic venue, the state said it would try at least 80% of the waters of the bay, but up until today they haven’t even reached 50%. A part of the bay has been filled by water from the sewer system whose contents have been found to include […]
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