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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| Olympic Game or A Tragic Shame? | |
| 2016-08-17 | |
| Demonstrations, violent crime, infrastructure failures and poverty are set to greet spectators this weekend in an event that some economists say could mean upward of $15 billion in losses for Brazil. Brazilians are tangled in a state of political turmoil and economic uncertainty that was not as apparent in 2009, when the decision was made to hold the games in Rio. The Olympic Games will cost Brazil $20 billion and return only $4 billion to $4.5 billion — a steep price to pay for propaganda to show how nice a country is that is plagued with infrastructure problems and endemic poverty. Awarding the games to developing countries like Brazil as a relatively new phenomenon. The International Olympic Committee sells the games to countries on the promise that it will help them, but evidence suggests that long-term benefits are not forthcoming. About 9 percent Brazil’s roughly 200 million people lived on less than $3.10 per day in 2013, according to the World Bank. The decision to host the games in Rio was made in 2009, during what appeared to be an upswing for the Brazilian economy, but that the outlook has now become considerably cloudier. This year Brazil’s Senate impeached Dilma Rousseff — the country’s first female president, who helped deliver the games to Rio — over accusations that she faked accounts in order to portray a more optimistic economic outlook during her re-election bid in 2014.
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| Posted by:SAT2014 |
| #1 Ask the Brazilians who watched their team beat Walsh-Jennings and Ross last night. What's the value of the uptick in national pride? Maybe 20 years from now, Brazilians will agree, "Yup, Rio was the turning point." |
| Posted by: Bobby 2016-08-17 13:07 |