THE 2014 WORLD CUP, THE 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES: WHAT'S GOIN' DOWN IN BRAZIL?

p img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/u26/poor.child_.image_.2_0.jpg" style="width: 568px; height: 376px;" //p p nbsp;/p p The 2014 World Cup Soccer Tournament and the 2016 Olympic Games will be hosted by Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.nbsp; What happened to the people who lived near the nice new stadium we saw on span data-scayt_word="tv" data-scaytid="5"tv/span during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?nbsp; The same thing that happened to the people who once lived near the Bird#39;s Nest stadium used for the Olympics in Beijing, China--they were span data-scayt_word="86'd" data-scaytid="6"86#39;d/span, evicted, disappeared, their homes and neighborhoods destroyed./p p POOR Magazine has a relationship with the span data-scayt_word="Shackdwellers" data-scaytid="7"Shackdwellers/span Union of South Africa.nbsp; Twenty years after Nelson Mandela was released from span data-scayt_word="Robben" data-scaytid="9"Robben/span Island Prison, nothing much has changed for Black South Africans.nbsp; Why is there a span data-scayt_word="Shackdwellers" data-scaytid="8"Shackdwellers/span Union?/p p The span data-scayt_word="Po'Lice" data-scaytid="10"Po#39;Lice/span and military have begun sending a tough message to the poor people of the shantytowns near the span data-scayt_word="Maracana" data-scaytid="11"Maracana/span stadium, which will be the site of the World Cup Final and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games.nbsp; They have invaded like bedbugs, tightening whatever control they already have./p p This is a double-whammy for the poor of Rio.nbsp; They can#39;t relax after the World Cup--the Olympic Games come span data-scayt_word="slammin" data-scaytid="12"slammin/span#39; through right after.nbsp; What will Rio and Brazil look like after this socio-economic earthquake rock #39;n rolls the city, the country, the continent?nbsp; That#39;s a question that needs answers NOW--not 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 years from now./p p The Olympic Games have a well-deserved reputation for corruption, but all anyone ever seems to want to talk about is regional or national pride, or the money that supposedly flows from visitors and tourists to the community--though the only real economic winners are the organizers of the events and the government officials and the governments that get the taxes on sales and the kickbacks and whatever other goodies trickle-down to them.nbsp; I wonder what Hugo Chavez of Venezuela thinks about all this./p p How would the World Cup or the Olympic Games be different if they were held in Venezuela?nbsp; Call or email your Brazilian Consulate or Embassy, or contact the American Embassy in Brazil with this and any other question concerning this situation.nbsp; Contact anyone you think may have influence.nbsp; The poor of Rio de Janeiro deserve to be left unmolested in their homes and neighborhoods, they deserve justice./p p Consulate General of Brazil (San Francisco)br / span data-scayt_word="brazilsf@brazilsf.org" data-scaytid="1"brazilsf@brazilsf.org/spanbr / span data-scayt_word="consul@brazilsf.org" data-scaytid="2"consul@brazilsf.org/spanbr / Phone: (415) 981-8170br / *****************************br / *****************************br / span data-scayt_word="U.S" data-scaytid="3"U.S/span. Consulate General in Rio de Janeirobr / span data-scayt_word="acsrio@state.gov" data-scaytid="4"acsrio@state.gov/spanbr / Phone: (21) 3823-2000 during Consulate#39;s working hours (span data-scayt_word="8am" data-scaytid="13"8am/span to span data-scayt_word="5pm" data-scaytid="14"5pm/span)br / Phone: (21) 3823-2029 after hoursbr / *************************br / *************************/p p nbsp;/p