Rio and the 2016 Summer Olympics: Reflections on Brazil and the Marvelous City
Today, Brazilians partied on Copacabana beach like it was 2016. The cariocas (natives of Rio de Janeiro) samba-ed on the sand, Brazilians across the nation celebrated deliriously, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) was overcome with tears at a televised press conference. The International Olympic Committee awarded Rio the Summer Games of 2016, which will be the first time a South American city has hosted the event. It will be a coming-of-age ceremony for Brazil, a budding superpower, much as the 2008 Beijing Games were for China.
Brazil is no longer "the country of the future," as it has been described ad nauseam for decades; it has arrived in the present. It has a diversified economy, one of the top ten in the world, and it has emerged relatively unscathed from the global economic crisis. The land of soccer and samba is an agricultural giant, competing with the U.S. to be the world's bread basket. It is a biofuel dynamo and the world's leading exporter of ethanol; half its cars run on pure alcohol. Already self-sufficient in petroleum, Brazil recently discovered massive off-shore oil reserves. It is also a cultural superpower; its television novelas are popular internationally and its rich variety of music (samba, bossa nova, and other styles) has influenced global popular music for decades.
Unfortunately, Brazil is also one of the world's most corrupt countries, which has slowed its economic growth and hindered a more equitable sharing of its wealth. Brazilians would be far better off, and the country a vastly different place, if they refused to tolerate the rogues' gallery that populates their federal, state, and city governments. The Congress in Brasília is known for a total lack of ethics, lavish benefits for senators and deputies; secret votes; shameless appointing of family members to federal jobs; and, ingenious diversions of money for personal or political ends.
Lula's political allies have been tainted by one corruption scandal after another since he was first elected. Yet, nothing much sticks; charges are dismissed or never followed up; and, no guilty career politician gets more than a slap on the wrist, no matter how extreme the vote buying or money laundering. Lula embraces anyone as long as they serve his political ends. He has supported the senators José Sarney and Renan Calheiros, who have allegedly been embroiled in some of Brazil's worst corruption scandals, and he has even gotten friendly with his former enemy, the notorious senator Fernando Collor de Mello. The latter resigned as president of Brazil in 1992 just before he was to be impeached, accused of influence peddling.
In part because of massive corruption, Brazil is still beset by widespread poverty, oppressive taxes, a gargantuan bureaucracy, poor public education, and a crumbling public health-care system. Graft also plays a role in the country's high crime rates and serious environmental threats (the deforestation of the Amazon and devastation of the Cerrado savanna are two of the biggest). Yet, despite such daunting problems, things are getting better for most, thanks to a stable economy, the taming of inflation, and Lula's welfare program for the poorest families (the bolsa família), which is labeled a progressive social program by his admirers and blatant patronage by his detractors.
Rio's $14.4 billion preparation for the Olympics, with a planned operating budget of $2.82 billion and more than $11.1 billion allocated for urban upgrades (transportation, security, etc.), could bring lasting improvements. Rio is renowned for its festive spirit, beautiful beaches and stunning natural scenery; it is also plagued by street crime, terrible traffic, and a decaying infrastructure. Drug gangs and rogue-cop militias are the de facto local governments of the favelas (poor neighborhoods) where more than 1.2 million cariocas reside (not counting other cities in Greater Rio). The city of Rio has finally begun providing police protection for a select few favelas (such as Dona Marta); perhaps the Olympics will provide the impetus to complete the job.
Pollution is another challenge for cariocas, starting with the fetid waters of Guanabara Bay and Lagoa Rodrigo das Freitas (the lagoon behind Ipanema and Leblon, where rowing competitions will take place), and the often murky waves of Copacabana and Ipanema. The Rio Olympic Committee has promised to clean up water pollution.
As far as breathing goes, the athletes competing in the 2016 Games will not suffer from smog as much as they did in Beijing, but Rio needs to improve its air quality, especially in terms of particulates, the worst form of air pollution. Rio's mayor Eduardo Paes would be smart to begin replacing the thousands of city buses that spew sooty exhaust with clean-fuel vehicles. And participants and spectators will need to reach events on time, which will be a challenge given the city's growing gridlock. Expanding mass transit will help both with transportation and air quality. The existing subway system, which is a good one, needs to be extended, especially to the Barra da Tijuca area (new Metro stops and highways have been promised).
The whole world will be watching Rio de Janeiro during the Games; perhaps Brazil's politicians will stop lining their pockets long enough to give the "Marvelous City" the support it deserves. The 2014 World Cup, to be held in Brazil as a whole, will provide a hint of things to come. Unfortunately, it looks like some pledges made for that event, such as the construction of a high-speed rail line to connect Rio and São Paulo, will not come to fruition.
When Rio hosted the Pan-American Games in 2007, things went smoothly enough. However, the city failed to deliver on promises of infrastructure improvements (including building more highways and cleaning up Guanabara Bay) that it made to secure the Pan-Am competition. The city ran well and crime was radically reduced during the Games; afterwards, the city had a few new athletic facilities and everything else had returned to normal, with little to show for cost overruns that were an estimated six to ten times the original budget of $177 million.
Still, Brazil will be under greater pressure to keep its promises for the 2016 Olympics,
and current mayor Paes seems more effective than his predecessor Cesar Maia, who was mostly asleep at the wheel toward the end of his term. Most likely, Rio will get a giant facelift and corruption will bloat the budget; the scale of the graft will determine if Brazil suffers a big net financial loss from the Games, as have many host cities.
Despite its social problems, Rio remains one of the most popular cities in the world, with cariocas enjoying a well-deserved reputation for gregariousness and joie de vivre. Brazilians everywhere are proud and overjoyed to have been awarded the 2016 event. Beijing put on a brilliant show, but it was all choreographed, with zero spontaneity and heavy police-state supervision. In Rio, improvisation and interaction will be at the forefront. And nobody parties like the cariocas. The Rio Olympics may well be the most entertaining Games ever, taking place in a city that is the home of Carnaval and is the world capital of celebration.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
As the author pointed out, Eduardo Paes the current mayor is much more serious and efficient than his predecessor, who was too treated too gently by this article since he was a massive failure.
Rio had 12 years of completely corrupt government on a state level, and who knows how many years of mayors who dont give a damn about anything other than ... who knows, all I know is that Cesar maia was not getting his job done at all, not even trying.
People should understand this is the dawn of a new age for Rio, we have only recently changed our politicians, and we will demand from them what no other could deliver, serious business.
There isn't a country on the planet that wouldn't be better off with fewer corrupt politicians. However Brazil seems to be doing at least a few things right. Maybe we can learn something.
Grona... it is only a question of time before some self-reoccupied limo liberal will start demanding something or other.Ala Farrow's misguided effort to "Halderman" Beijing Olympics.
For the U.S. to comment disparagingly on other countries' corruption is laughable. It was the U.S. corruption that brought about the current world economic crisis, causing havoc and poverty everywhere. No corruption of a similar scale has ever been seen, historically.
The scale of hypocrisy in U.S. dealings with other countries is monumental, and only a few nations culturally similar (anglophones, mostly) buy it. We have been living on borrowed money for so long that it seems to us natural that other countries should pay with poverty for our lavish living that we can't afford honestly
The day of reckoning is coming, although very very slowly.
Part I
Very well said.
And one more point; Lula is a political survivor. I remember when he was first elected, the fear mongering coming from the right-wings in Brazil (including their mouthpieces such as the Globo network); it was all doom and gloom, a downward spiral into totalitarianism, communism, fascism - all the isms one can think of. There were images of civil war, Bolshevist style, with a foaming-at-the-mouth President overlooking it.
And none of that materialized, much to the chagrin of his detractors. Lula is a pragmatist who has been able to ride waves of prejudice; this is a man who migrated to the industrial south in a "pau-de-arara", whose hands bear witness to his life of hard work as a lathe operator ( he has one finger missing) and who learned to negotiate in the toughest school there is - unions...
Part II
I'm sure the Brazilian oligarchies would have loved an excuse to enact a coup once again, but Lula didn't give them that chance - he keeps his friends close and his enemies even closer. Are there things he could have done differently? Sure, but he knows which battles to pick. The idea that he could, during his two mandates, overturn decades of nepotism and corruption ( greatly increased during the 20 years of the CIA-backed military dictatorship), as well as go against the interest of powerful national and international economic players without getting himself burnt, is plain naive, not to say disingenuous. Again, he's a pragmatist who has improved the life of millions, who brought stability to the Brazilian economy and who puts his actions where his mouth is - whether protecting undocumented immigrants or lending unequivocal support to the lawful Honduran government. And as the icing on the cake, he restored the sense of national pride by getting both the World Cup and the Olympics to be staged in Brazil.
70% of all Brazilians are proud of Lula - and rightly so.
"Brazilians would be far better off, and the country a vastly different place, if they refused to tolerate the rogues' gallery that populates their federal, state, and city governments. "
So would Americans...
Harper's cover story this month is on the violent sinkhole that is Rio. If they don't stop allowing the destruction of the Amazon, not only will it have devastating consequences for Brazil, it will have devastating consequences for the world.
In preparation for the Olympics, they will have to clean up the city. How will they do that? Make the millions of poor invisible? Round up all the stray animals and kill them, like Greece did (this latter might actually be more humane, since Brazilians treat stray dogs and cats like punching bags, at best)?
The idea that Rio is a great place is preposterous. I guess it's okay if you're a tourist, have money to spend, and carefully avoid certain areas of the city and certain behaviors that would be normal in any civilized place (like taking public transportation) or walks alone. It's a third-world country struggling to reach first-world status with third-world mentality that inflicts violence on the poor, women, nonhumans and Nature in general. Not my idea of a place I'd like to spend my time.
By the way, we could certainly use a house cleaning of the bozos running the U.S. government, right now, too.
Sounds to me like you have never been there. Very dog friendly city actually.
As for rounding up the marginals like stray dogs. Well I would say stray dogs deserve better. I think of them like termites ruining a beautiful house, deal with it accordingly.
Isn't it too early to judge the state of games which are 7 years away? If we have learned anything during this economic crisis is that things could change in a flash
I have to be in Rio several times a year. While it is one of the most NATURALLY beautiful cities in the world, it had problems that may be insurmountable. I can not imagine how they can possibly resolve the favela issue without bloodshed .... and cleaning the water? The whole city is a giant toilet (literally). Maybe they should import a few million scented candles. As far as crime, the city will have to be under martial law during the Games or the attendees will have to exist inside a giant bubble. I imagine it will be some combination of the two. Bottom line: The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. They didn't do the job they promised in 2007 and instead just papered over things. I expect that's what they will do again. I hope I am wrong. I would love to see Rio restored to what it should be. As it is now, I tell everybody not to go unless you have to. Yes, it's really that bad.
Sour grapes. But then on second thought, I have to ask: what exactly is it you mean when you say the favelas are issues to be resolved? I can think of about one reasonable explanation and about 10 nasty, racist, classist, insensitive, condescending explanations for your comment.
When you say favelas are an issue that has to be resolved, are you suggesting what?
I was hoping for Rio if Chicago was not chosen. Most Brazilians I've known have been outgoing, fun, and full of life. I expect of wonderful event in Rio. Brazil will now show it is a world power. This is their moment.
I would rate it as between "good" and "great". Latin base, European refinement, African spice. Last night I made what some call the "national dish", which is a rich, pork-based black bean stew called feijoada. It is often eaten with a side of rice, but also eaten in a bowl like stew. Small meals generally include beans and rice, but not in the Mexican sense. (Black beans, usually the rice is on top, served tender but firm.) Be sure to get a Brazilian friend to direct you to passion fruit mousse. It's even better than it sounds! I have some help here, Mrs. Drum is from Sao Paulo.
You can drink caipirinha (rum and crushed lime), Xingu is kind of like Guiness, but a little lighter. If you don't imbibe spirits, have a cold Guarana, kind of their ubiquitous soda. Antarctica is the best brand, IMHO.
If you're really interested, go to a churrascaria, there's probably one in your area if you dont live somewhere where Denny's is considered a night. Brazilian barbecue is second to none. Plus, Americans will like it because 98 times out of 100, it's all you can eat. Chicken, beef, pork, you name it THEY JUST KEEP BRINGING IT.
Hope that helps. I had to get a gym membership after I discovered Brazilian cuisine. Good Luck!
I wonder what Brazilian food consists of.
Although in Brazil we do have the bad influence of the fast food chains (McDonald's is the world's norm), our primary menu consists in fresh wholefoods...a lot of meat (red, poultry, fish), a huge variety of fruits, grains (beans, rice), and so on. We like pasta, pizza a lot too. The Italian culture has a big influence in our food also. And we have other world foods being represented... Japanese, Chinese. But our main influence is Portuguese and African. In a suburban home you will have access to at least half, or sometimes, all this variety, all week. Not to mention Barbecue (Churrasco), which is completely different from the American one. And our most famous dish, Feijoada, which consists mainly of black beans (done with a variety of meats) and white rice. Pure African culture influence. Delicious.
My mom buys fresh fish every week from the source (fishermen who comes to our door) and we have homemade fresh food everyday. We eat really healthy and good in Brazil. Of course, most people (the really poor) can't always have all this. But as the article said, with the changes brought to our economy, most poor people can even buy meat -- which in Brazil can be really expensive -- nowadays.
People can/will find really good places to eat all around Rio if they visit during the Olympics.
I lived in Brazil in the 70's and I STILL miss the food. I think that is one of the great surprises in store for visitors who go there for the Olympics. You left out the wonderful ice cream, made fresh from whole fruit. All these years later I can still taste it. Congratulations to Rio and CR72, please have an extra scoop of pineapple ice cream for me!
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
