More protests are expected to take place here ahead of the
Opening Ceremony of Rio 2016 as demonstrators protest against the spending
required to host the Olympic Games.
Brazilian politics has descended into further chaos after it
was announced that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the President when Rio de Janeiro
was awarded the Games in 2009, is to go on trial for obstruction of justice as
part of the corruption investigation into state run oil giants Petrobras.
Lula, whose performance at the decisive International Olympic
Committee (IOC) Session in Copenhagen six years ago was seen as a major reason
for Brazil's success ahead of Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, is one of six
individuals accused of hampering the ongoing inquiry "Operation Car
Wash".
All six have been accused of trying to prevent former
Petrobras director Nestor Cervero from testifying in a plea bargain deal.
Many Brazilians oppose both Lula and his Presidential
successor Dilma Rousseff, who is currently suspended from office pending the
outcome of a separate impeachment trial due to finish shortly after the Rio
2016 Closing Ceremony on August 21.
But millions of others support both Lula and Rousseff,
particularly those from working-class and youth backgrounds.
They have accused interim President Michel Temer and his
allies of orchestrating a coup d'état.
Some political protesters are using the Olympics as a vehicle
to make their wider concerns heard;.
Others are more directly appealing against the spending
required for the Games at a time of so many spending cuts in other areas.
One protest has already happened in Angra dos Reis in Rio de
Janeiro State during the Olympic Torch Relay.
Youths seized and extinguished the flame before being
repelled by police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
They were protesting against an alleged failure to pay
municipal employees and the cutting of bus services and closure of an urgent
care health centre.
Protesters claiming “Workers of Angra dos Reis will not pay
for the crisis” and “Torch of shame" were carried.
A group calling themselves "Olympic Games
Exclusion" have promised more protests here over the next week,
particularly on Friday (August 5), the day of the Opening Ceremony.
Read more insidethegames.biz
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