World Cup blog
June 12, 2014
Rio is split. And that comes as no surprise. This concrete smear of a city, spread across one of planet Earth's most beautiful landscapes, is a place of staggering contrasts.
Sandy beaches; dizzying peaks. Shimmering skyscrapers; ramshackle favelas. Manic energy; languid living. But if the Carioca soul is torn over anything right now, it is the World Cup, which kicks off in Sao Paulo tomorrow.
So far, the atmosphere has been muted. People in Rio have normal lives to attend and it is understandable that visiting fans are the most keen to party. But chat to locals and they are split down the middle on whether hosting the World Cup – at a cost of $11 billion – is a good thing.
You don't need to speak much Portuguese to understand the rubbing together of imaginary cash, nor the gesture of it being passed under the table, that people use when discussing the impending mega-event. The World Cup here is associated with institutional corruption and an embezzling elite.
Normal working Brazilians (let alone those struggling in the favelas) cannot make ends meet. Many now fear a Brazilian World Cup win. The resulting euphoria would rubber stamp Dilma Rousseff's re-election as president and extend the life of a regime which has transferred public funds willy-nilly to private hands during World Cup preparations.
As a relatively young democracy, Brazil has not always had a civil society capable of holding its leaders to account. This was why politicians were so shocked by last summer's mass protests – the old opium of football (sprinkled with a little samba) was suddenly not enough to contain the public's outrage.
People were sick of being of patronised in a country that spends only half the global average on internal infrastructure (a meagre 1.5 per cent of GDP). They will protest again, with events planned right next to the FIFA Fan Fest on Copacabana, on the first day of the tournament.
But, in a gesture that shows just how torn people here are, demonstrations are planned for mid-afternoon. That way, even the angriest protestors can be done in time for the day's big event: kick-off of Brazil's opening match against Croatia.
Are you in Brazil at the moment for the World Cup? Tell us what you think about the upcoming tournament in our Comments section below.