Showtime
How The Rio World Cup Sparked Protests Across Brazil
In Brazil they're ripping down schools and cutting hospital funding to put up stadiums. No wonder that while Brazilians love the World Cup, they're protesting against having to pay for it in vital services.
Rio's Maracana is a shrine for football-worshipping Brazilians and will be the centre stage for next year's World Cup. Hence a makeover estimated to cost half-a-billion dollars, to make it more comfortable for the big-ticket punters paying as much as $1000 a seat. Meanwhile in the shadow of the Maracana the little primary school of 12 year old Felipe and his classmate is earmarked for demolition. Felipe suffers a muscular disease and his mother Thaissa struggles on a small income. "The wish to see the World Cup is very big here, but the bad things are being disguised." Thaissa tells us. This feeling boiled over when more than a million people spilled into the streets to rage against a small jump in bus fares. It caught the world by surprise, as ex-World Cup star Edmundo points out, "Brazilians often suffer and suffer in silence". But with many believing the estimated 13 billion dollars being hurled at venues is being bled from vital public services it was the final straw. "We doctors see patients under inhumane conditions, sitting in the emergency ward for two to three days...". Julio Noronha a Rio Emergency Doctor tells us, striking a note that continues to cause unrest across Brazil.
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