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World Cup 2014: What is really going on in Brazil?

Alex Alves*

This June, the whole world is watching Brazil. Mostly due to the World Cup, which has

been quite enjoyable to watch. This is because Brazil is showing a very pleasant

atmosphere, with a very supportive mood.

However, it took a little longer for this spirit to arise. The country was a little

apprehensive with the Cup, much due to the demonstrations a year ago, the

infrastructure works completed a few days before the games begin, and the country's

own soccer team, which was alternating good matches with others not so much.

But then came the World Cup, with the tourists, the different movement, a cosmopolitan

atmosphere unseen in these lands, which although very racially mixed, has never seen

so many people from different nationalities living simultaneously at various points of its

vast territory.

In addition to bringing people from all around the world to travel through several of our

cities, the World Cup, with its variety of host cities, joined the Country from end to end

in a single celebration. Upon this scenario, we can refer to this tournament as the World

Cup of integration, as suggested through social networks on last June 11th, by the heads

of State of Brazil and Argentina, Dilma Rousseff and Cristina Kirchner.

Whoever travels to a sports tournament of this magnitude expects a receptive country,

warm, with a well-established structure, with good tourist attractions, restaurants and

entertainment options. And that's exactly what the tourists are finding in Brazil.

A good portion of Brazilians, however, would like to receive tourists in a country of

impeccable infrastructure, secure, technologically advanced and with a high human

development index. On these themes, despite the advances of the last two decades, there

is still a long way to go.

Therefore, is that the reason behind the somewhat bland atmosphere that has engulfed

the country in the days close to the World Cup opening ceremony, and only began

changing when the tournament actually started? It seems incomprehensible that the

population of the "soccer country" was apprehensive to celebrate this great moment

with all the honors.

In order to understand what is really happening in Brazil and come up with a good

answer, we must take into account three factors: 1) The World Cup occurs about 7 years

after the celebrated choice of Brazil as host country for the 2014 edition; 2) It takes

place a year after a series of demonstrations and protests about the quality in public

services and against excessive public spending with World Cup preparations; and 3) It

is held days prior to the beginning of the election campaign for federal and state seats,

which takes place between July and October this year.

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1) The context of the choice of Brazil as host country for the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Brazil was announced by Fifa as the host country for the 2014 World Cup in October

30th, 2007, in news rather celebrated at that point. Brazil lived the second term of the

Lula administration (who stayed in office between 2003-2006 and 2007-2010), of the

Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT), and lived a good situation in internal

and external policies.

This was because the administration of the former factory worker of humble origins

who reached the highest Office of the Republic – and became famous, in the backstage

of the power, as the best Human Resources Manager of Esplanade of Ministries, for

surrounding himself with qualified technicians and listening attentively to their

interlocutors – raised sympathy in Brazil and abroad.

In Brazil, the economy had days of strength and growth. Policies for social inclusion

and expansion of credit offer enabled access to consumer goods to the poorer layers of

the population; the adjustments to the civil servants and the improvement of salaries due

to the heating up of the economy enabled the middle class to spend more on luxury

goods and trips abroad; and the incentives towards the industry appealed to

entrepreneurs.

That way, Lula received great approval from the poorest families, middle class and also

the wealthiest strata of society, who benefited from the heating economy, prestige that

was just rocked with allegations of corruption or, when thwarted politically, the

President claimed to represent the poor against "the elites". Politically, for several times

it was raised the point of a constitutional amendment to allow a third term for Lula,

which was strongly rejected by the opposition and part of the public opinion.

In foreign affairs, under the lead of Chancellor Celso Amorim and with the support of

the emblematic figure of Lula, Brazil lived days of great projection. The duo sought to

expand Brazil's leadership position among the countries in Latin America and Africa,

expanding relations with countries with left-wing governments and with the old

Socialist powers, without deteriorating, however, relations with the United States and

major European countries. Brazil also went on to take a position in international

situations around the globe, living days of prominence in its diplomacy.

And then there was an expressive participation in the environmental forums, such as the

COP-15, held in 2009 in Denmark; expressive participation in the consolidation of the

G-20 as an international articulation forum, with the participation of emerging powers;

the bet of the world economists in the potential of the B of BRICS; and the two major

events of world projection for which Brazil was chosen as the host (besides the World

Cup, which takes place in various parts of the country, Rio de Janeiro will be the host

city of the 2016 Olympic Games).

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Therefore, that was a festive context, in a favorably reviewed Lula Administration, with

Brazil swiftly growing and living a moment of great international projection. When they

take notice about the choice to host the World Cup, Brazilians celebrated, as they

foresaw more investments to the Country, an increase in the number of tourists,

international projection, as well as the modernization of Brazil and general

improvement of its infrastructure, in order to be properly prepared to receive events of

that size.

2) The June 2013 Demonstrations

In June 2013, days prior and during the Confederations Cup, an event a year before the

World Cup, several demonstrations took place. The theme was initially an increase in

public transportation fares in some capitals, mainly in São Paulo, but soon the

phenomenon spread across the country, adding to the agenda of claims issues such as

combating corruption, and the lack of quality of most public services.

It was noted, in particular, a dissatisfaction of society regarding the choices of public

spending, as news stories started showing investments of billions of dollars in the

construction of stadiums built to host the games of the World Cup, at the same time

when there were several delays in infrastructure works directly or indirectly related to

the event, including, in addition to the stadiums, overpasses, light rail transit systems,

airports. In those six years, public schools and public hospitals have not gone through

significant improvements as noted by the population.

The press, politicians and society went through a period without knowing exactly how

to act about demonstrations. The press called them vandalism at a point, and then

praised the demonstrations at another. Politicians, ditto. They waited as much as they

could to take effective decisions about the way in which the State would deal with the

protests. And the population that was not involved in the demonstrations lived periods

of uncertainty, a feeling of somewhat "bad atmosphere", afraid of leaving the house to

go to work or to open their businesses due to the possibility of violence outbursts in the

protests.

President Dilma Rousseff and most State Governors, however, acted calmly, avoiding

bloodshed in large proportions, even though there have been some casualties and cases

of violence. There was also an overflow of criticism about the way both sides (the

police and protesters) have acted.

There were radicals, with more violent protests by the so-called black blocs, but most

demonstrators acted peacefully, enforcing their constitutional right of manifestation.

Gradually, the movements began diminishing, until the Country returned to its normal

routine.

Many people around the world have asked the following question: How can the

population of a Country known as the soccer country, and that has so much celebrated

earning the right to host the World Cup and the Olympics, be against the Tournament?

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In fact, the portion of the population that participated in the demonstration was not

against the World Cup, but against the moroseness in the changes in which was believed

that Brazil would have gone through until the beginning of the World Cup.

This is because, as previously mentioned, the middle class started traveling more, the

poorest, began having more access to formal education and information. The feeling of

mismatching between the gargantuan public budget, as a result of a high tax burden, and

the little perceptible improvements in the provision of public services in a country

where the middle class, in addition to taxes, pays for health care, education and

eventually private security, helped generate this dissatisfaction.

In this scenario, public services end up being intended for the lower income population,

which in turn cannot receive care at hospitals or enroll their children in public schools

without waiting in long lines. And, for several times, they will not find appropriate

services and proper infrastructure.

Therefore, the 2013 demonstrations were not against the World Cup itself - which was

very celebrated in 2007 –, or against the expenses that typically one would expect for an

event of such magnitude, but against the quality of these expenditures and the Country's

difficulty in translating investments into public services in effective results for the

population. A good portion of the people chagrined upon the thought that the Brazil that

was going to be visited by tourists in the following year wouldn't be the advanced

country that Brazilians yearned to show.

3) The joy of the Integration Cup and the elections

Yet Brazil is making a good World Cup. In the beginning with some fear, without the

same euphoria and excitement shown by the population when the Country played

tournaments in other countries. Now, halfway through the tournament, with the joy due

to many goals, the excited fans, and the expressive amount of visitors. The Brazilians

took longer to decorate their streets and cars with the Country colors, but in the end they

did it, and joined the celebration. Yet, with serenity and reflection.

Reflecting upon the ways that the Country has taken, upon the results of this cultural

feature by which the country stood out – the Brazilian way, marked by tolerance in

ethical terms –, and also for features like leaving things to the last minute, and not

planning in advance. The Country wonders what are the advantages of being the country

of Carnival and soccer, and wonders whether it would not be possible to be the Country

of also Carnival and soccer, but standing out for aspects such as the quality of public

services, which could be close to those Scandinavian welfare countries, where the tax

burden percentage resembles the Brazilian one.

The reflection was still about responsibility for the fact that the country did not achieve

the accomplishments it longed for. This cannot be credited exclusively to the

politicians, or the media, or even to any foreign power. After all, United States, China,

and Russia are strategic business partners, and certainly would only benefit from the

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improvement of Brazilian management standards. In other words, no matter how much

we struggle on this topic, the Brazilian development is its own society's responsibility.

It is true that the scope of this country desires goes through improving the quality of

public spending; the investment in quality public education; the wide awareness about

national objectives (the population doesn't know what role the Country intends to

pursue for the next 30 years, for instance); by health services regulation, due to its

increasing precariousness, even in the private network; the formation of young leaders

in politics and in the public and private sectors; the reduction of bureaucracy; the

investment in research and technology; and, mainly, the awakening of citizens for the

participation in collective institutions, like apartment building meetings, parent-teacher

discussions, clubs and associations.

And the World Cup takes place on the eve of the election period, which occurs from

July to October this year. Polls show that Rousseff, from the Workers Party (PT) is

leading with advantage, at 30% of the voting intentions, but also points out that her two

main competitors Aecio Neves, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (Partido da

Social Democracia Brasileira – PSDB), seen as right-wing alignment, in the range of

20%, and Eduardo Campos, of the Brazilian Socialist Party (Partido Socialista

Brasileiro – PSB), center-leftist, in the range of 10%, also have become more popular in

recent months.

The three candidates have a respectable political history. Dilma Rousseff (PT) has

participated in the resistance against the military dictatorship in the 1960's, when she

was still a student. With the redemocratization, she was an ally to Leonel Brizola and

held managerial positions in the State of Rio Grande do Sul and, in the Lula

administration, she was the Minister of Mines and Energy, and State Department (Civil

House), having been chosen as candidate for his succession at the end of Lula's second

term, when she won in the election process.

Aécio Neves (PSDB) is the grandson of Tancredo Neves, who would be the first

President of the country after the military dictatorship, but died from illness just before

he could carry out his duties. Aécio was a Congressman for four terms, even being

President of the House of Representatives; he was the Governor of the State of Minas

Gerais, becoming known for advances in the quality of public management; and is

currently a Senator from the same State.

The also Economist Eduardo Campos (PSB) is the grandson of leftist leader Miguel

Arraes. He has been a State and federal Representative, Minister of Science and

Technology in the Lula administration and the Governor of the State of Pernambuco,

also with notable progress in the quality of management and attracting investments to

the State. He has brought to his team, as candidate for Vice President, Marina Silva, a

leading environmentalist, former Senator and former Minister of Environment of the

Lula administration. Campos' party, PSB, as center-left, was always close to the PT

ideologically, but began parting ways in 2012, when they began designing their own

candidacy scenario.

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The 2013 demonstrations, the increasingly strong pressure from society towards

advances since then, and the competitive level of these numbers have made the debate

raise its level. The news already point out that candidates are surrounding themselves by

big-name coaches to develop their Government plans, and seeking to focus the debate

on specific proposals to meet the longings of the population. The theme of public

management quality pervades the programs of the three candidates.

The only threat to the advancement of Brazilian society is a discourse full of bitterness

emerging from the polarization between left and right-wing discourses, reproduced by

militants or sympathizers of parties or ideological chains in social networks, or in

debates on college campuses and workplaces, once and again using the dangerous and

counterproductive argument of class struggle and reproducing discourses dating back to

the polarization during the military regime. Those are minority layers but that end up

driving away from debate the majority of the population, entitled of balanced positions

that may at a point incline to left-wing ideologies, or sometimes more to the right.

If the various segments of the population do not join forces towards the development of

the nation, putting aside ideological differences and seeking to build a new Brazilian

way, that takes into consideration the reward for effort (no pain, no gain), meritocracy

and the respect to citizenship rights of one another, maintaining a coherent line of

incremental building regardless of the political line of Government (leftist or rightist),

Brazil will continue to be the sweet land of the future, pleasant to visit during vacations,

but with a series of points to improve to meet the desires of the people who lives inside

it.

It cannot be denied, however, that Brazil is a country with consolidated institutions and

a good degree of individual guarantees, respecting diversity and that, despite the

difficulties it faces, always keeps alive a relevant feature: the good humor of its people

to meet the challenges, in the present or in the future.

*Alex Alves is Coordinator of the Brazilian electronic NGO “Movement for Efficient

Public Administration” (Movimento Gestão Pública Eficiente – MGPE)

(www.gestaopublicaeficiente.com.br - www.facebook.com/gestaopublicaeficiente).

E-mail address: movimento@gestaopublicaeficiente.com.br.