Brazil and Olympics: Rio the Wrong Choice
Brazil is slated to hold the summer Olympics this August and the clock is ticking away. I for one have been surprised that Brazil was allotted the Olympics by the IOC. Brazil is the third world and as yet poverty stricken country and for it to spend billions of dollars in staging Olympics is not good economic . More important Rio de Janeiro the biggest city and the venue of most games and events is a hotbed of crime activity. If people are aware ever since the Olympics was allotted to Brazil and the countdown to its staging began crime has increased by 39 % and rape by 50% and murders have shot up also by 30%. In addition gang wars between drug cartels out to carve their territory of influence are rife.
This points to a dangerous situation. Many incidents of rape dominate the scenario. One American student was raped in a moving bus with her boyfriend shackled to a seat and made to watch the rape. Again a 16-year-old girl was raped by 33 persons and most of the rapists are still at large. in another case a 16-year-old boy at the point of a knife raped a girl in a moving bus and all were witness to it. What surprises a visitor is the complete insensitiveness to violent crime. This not a good augury for the Olympics.
The country is also best with rampant corruption and political turmoil. The President Dilma Rousseff is facing an impeachment proceeding in parliament and an acting president is holding the fort. The level of corruption is so acute and mind boggling that all energy of Brazil politicians appears to be to mint money. The police seem ineffective and one policeman was shot dead in the shanty town close to the foothills. He was on patrol duty. If the police get killed, then it's an alarming sign. The 27 provinces of Brazil are no better than Rio de Janerio, which is staging the Olympics.
Visitors from abroad are apprehensive of coming to Brazil to witness the Olympics mainly because of rampant crime. Some people have even called for the Olympics to be canceled in Brazil and rescheduled at some other place. But this is too late in the day and I am afraid the Olympics will go through.
Brazil has the dubious distinction of having the second largest rape cases in the world after the USA. A sobering thought is that India also is nearby and occupies the 3rd place as far as rape is concerned. However, these rapes in Brazil are difficult to understand as sex is virtually rampant in Rio where a girl can be had at any time for a small change. These girls are now looking to mint money from customers during the summer Olympucs. Personally, I have no case against such activity, but violence is another kettle of fish and this is the biggest threat to the Olympics. The drug cartels rule the roost and they foment crime. How come these drug cartels exist ? The fact is that with deep-rooted corruption that includes the police the drug lords have had their way. Nobody bothered earlier, but now with the Olympics around, the danger of these drug cartels to visitors has come to light.
The IOC erred in awarding Olympics to Brazil. Perhaps they wanted the venues for Olympics to be made more representative. This is flawed thinking as the Olympics are a world event and I wonder how Rio was chosen.
As things stand the countdown to the Olympics has begun. Political crisis and rampant corruption with fights between gangs is not a happy augury for the greatest summer spectacle in the world. I wonder how Brazil will cope with it. Its a question that is difficult to answer. The guns are out in Rio and I hope they can keep the peace.
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.