Riot de Janeiro

Riot de Janeiro

By: Erreh Svaia

“We are no tigers, we make no feline movements, we are a whale who moves slow, but firmly.”

Fernando Henrique Cardoso 

It a very different feeling from the one filling the streets two years ago in Brazil, there were riots and social unrest, but in a populist way it helped to receive Pope Francis in his first trip as a Pope, considering that Brazil has the biggest catholic population in America, he trip was a must, considering that Francis is the first American Pope, it was his duty, considering that at the time, the first sight of a crisis within Brazilian soil, I was a blessing, it helped appease people, religion always works, "opium for the masses" said the German philosopher Karl Marx, in this case it worked a bit, a few years ago, the world was talking about the "the Brazilian miracle", millions of people come long out of extreme poverty thanks to ex-president Lula Da Silva social programs and heavy foreign investment attracted towards Brazil's oil giant Petrobras, a Football Soccer World Cup and an Olympics were set to be staged in the country as the announcement of Brazil coming out of the third world and entering he first world as part of the so called BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as we know now, the BRICS were a little overrated, in Brazil, in particular, as poor people ascended towards middle class, social programs started becoming insufficient to keep social growth, as better education and better employment opportunities were started to be demanded, Lula's populist measurements weren't enough to satisfy society, and his successor, the ex-guerrilla fighter, Dilma Rousseff, not only lacked Lula's charisma, but also the brilliance of Lula's pragmatism, social unrest grew, and reports on enormous levels of corruption happening within Petrobras made the crisis even more severe, the Football World Cup arrived just in time to make some distraction and release some pressure, but things continued to fall apart as reports on exaggerated and not too clear government investment on the Cup was revealed by the press, even the not so great performance of the National Football Team was just the fire starter of a snow ball that foresaw great chaos.

And we weren't so wrong about that, as things started going downhill from there, public unrest started growing both President Dilma Rousseff and ex-President Lula Da Silva were in the eye of the storm, but it wasn't a "political rightist coup" against the left as many claimed, it was "all against all" as both government functionaries from left and right resulted involved in serial corruption cases in the so called Lavo Jato scandal, which ignited an impeachment case against Rousseff, who got suspended, and replaced temporarily by one of his closest collaborators, Michel Temer, the so called "Frank Underwood" of Brazil, a man accused of being a conspirator in order to move aside Rousseff, a nebulous man who ended up with better thrust levels than Dilma.

In a few days the Olympics game will start and the streets atmosphere feels quite different than the one before the Soccer Cup, the Summer Olympic Games look doomed, the Zika virus health crisis will scare some visitors and athletes, perhaps things are getting out of control here, and the problem sounds bigger than it truly is, but Brazilian authorities are not helping clarifying the situation and giving away adequate information, then comes the doping scandal with the Russian Olympic Federation, as I have said before doping has always been close to the heart of elite athletes, when you are simply looking to carry your body beyond human limits, chemistry comes always handy, and in the case of world sports, it becomes a matter of pride over sportsmanship and pride over health, and this time it seems the Russians have not only got too far, but that the International Olympic Committee is trying to make a purge on elite athletes this time.

Two more big and dark shadows appear over the blue Brazilian sky, the shadow of terrorism, which has recently appeared in France after the Euro Cup, Brazil shouldn't be exactly a target for terrorist attacks, considering that the country hasn't manifested itself in favor of USA interventionism in Middle East or against Islam, but the amount of publicity the games will attract, would undoubtedly make it a very attractive target for lone wolves who can easily permeate the security measures make suicide attacks and lure the spotlights towards the Islamic State, to the day, some suspects have been detained, but the menace is still present, been after the event, as what happened right at the end of the Euro Cup, catching France off guard.

The last but not the least of Brazil´s headaches are the environmental disaster happening in the country, caused mainly by the rapid growth the country experimented in last years, although the Brazilian skies look like they are about to be obscured by clouds, there is still a chance of Brazil coming out of the crisis, as ex Brazilian president Lula Da Silva, is about to face trial on corruption cases, the direct attack against corruption could inspire a wave of trust within foreign investors, an effect similar that is happening in Argentina, this growing trust in the end, if Michel Temer and Mauricio Macri learn to make a good team could definitely help to create momentum within the region and finally establishing a good dynamic with other countries like Colombia, Perú and Chile who are also looking for ways to move the Latin American economies form lethargy, in the meantime, get ready for Rio de Janeiro, it could be the continuation of the amazing string of unexpected events occurred in July.