Growing resistance in Brazil against infrastructure works for 2014 World Cup http://www.radiomundoreal.fm/Bad-Score?lang=es

The building of infrastructure works destined to host the 2014 World Cup in several Brazilian states threatens tens of thousands of families and constitues a new chance for appropriation of natural resources and public monies by private corporations.In response to this, several organizations are coordinating actions to resist these works in order to avoid that “some take advantage of people’s passion for football to increase their profits and further marginalize thousands of people”, said Fernando Campos Costa, member of Nucleo (NAT)- Friends of the Earth Brazil.

While he was taking part in a public hearing on the Day of the Right to the City, on Friday 25, in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Fernando spoke with Real World Radio about the effect that these works would have on the cities and urban communities.Only in the outskirts of Porto Alegre, Fernando says that nearly three thousand families would be displaced to carry out the works. These families have no information about them and ignore if their rights will be respected.

Criminalization of Poverty A few months ago anoperative was launched to the world, shooting to kill at the ’favelas’ or slums in Rio de Janeiro purportedly against organized crime and as part of the preparations for the 2014 World Cup and the Olympic Games that will follow in 2016. As a result of this operative, the so called “Police Pacification Units” settled in the favelas.This police and military presence has led to greater criminalization of poverty and according to Fernando, it is an action by the business groups to “recover” areas, which will acquire higher real estate value in the near future, as a result of the sports and tourism events that will be hosted by Brazil.