Dossier: Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro

Revitalization of the port in the Olympic city: The new Museu do Amanhã lures attracts visitors, the tram is still under construction.

Eine Protestaktion gegen die Olympischen Spiele in Rio 2016.

Editorial: Behind the Rio Games

Barbara Unmüßig correlates the Olympics with Brazil’s institutional, political and economic crisis. Did the organizers learn a lesson from the World Cup in 2014?

By Barbara Unmüßig

Introduction: Half a million people are expected to visit Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics and Paralympics in August and September. At first glance this will be a huge benefit for the city. But just as for the World Cup in 2014, the city has become a contested space of political and economic interests.

In our dossier we analyze the Games´ financing and sustainability. We report on public security concepts, changes in the city and the evictions of socially disadvantaged groups. We take a look at the organizers´ responsibility to guarantee human rights.

Obscured Costs

Private Games?

The Rio Olympics have already cost more public money than official numbers show. An analysis by Julia Bustamante and Caio Lima, Instituto Políticas Alternativas para o Cone Sul (PACS).

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Costs and Transparency

Riesenprojekt Straßenbahnbau (VLT) im November 2015 in Rio de Janeiro

Marketing and Promotion, instead of Transparency for the Games

In spite of the maxim transparency and laws requiring free access to information the municipality of Rio de Janeiro owns a lot of information on the Olympic Games.

By Italo Nogueira

Die Demonstrierenden fragen sich: Olympia für wen?

Rio 2016: The exclusion games

With the Olympics Rios city limits are shifted: Instead of fostering the wealth of the population, the municipality opens the way for speculation in real estate.

By Renato Cosentino

Public Security

Security as a Commodity: Mega Events and Public Security in Brazil

The private security industrie is definitely among the sectors that most benefit from mega events. Within a dubious relationship the security industry does not only supply the Brazilian State with surveillance systems and weapons, it also influences the organization of federal police and military forces.

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The legacy of the mega-events

Dossier: World cup for whom? World cup for what?

Brazil will host the most expensive World Cup of all time. Around 85 percent of the expenses will be funded with public money. For the first time in history, a multitude of questions are being raised about the real meaning of an international mega-event for the host population. This web dossier was designed to add relevant data regarding the guarantee of people's rights and as offer for critical perspectives about the realities on the ground.

Brazil beat Croatia in World Cup opening match

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil: its legacy and challenges

Marilene de Paula, coordinator for the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation Brazil, analyzes the legacy of the 2014 World Cup.

By Marilene de Paula

The Other Side of the Medal

The football World Cup in Brazil cost the country at least €8.5 billion euros but did not stimulate economic growth. In 2016 the Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games are coming to Rio de Janeiro once again. Dawid Danilo Bartelt illustrates how sporting mega-events have established themselves as a business model. The losers are often the host city’s most vulnerable people, democracy and human rights.

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Rio 2016 Olympics: The Exclusion Games

The City of Rio de Janeiro is the stage for several projects, now at the preparation of the city for the 2016 Olympic Games. The population of the city has already realized that the project Rio Olympic City, which comprises the developments for the 2014 World Cup, and the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as large projects such as Porto Maravilha, will not bring the promised benefits.

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World Cup for whom and for what?

Taking a look upon the legacy of the World Cups in Brazil, South Africa and Germany this publication gives detailed information about the financial, political and social impact of the mega-event.

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The population seems to be increasingly aware of their rights, systematically violated in the name of major sports events, separating them from the spectacle

Orlando dos Santos Júnior

Speculation and eviction in the city

Guide for journalists and media professionals: Human rights violations in the Olympic city

The Brazilian non-governmental organization Justiça Global, partner organization of the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, released this publication, that intends to be a tool that allows journalists to know the other side of this mega event, which resulted in the aggravation of processes of segregation, control and privatization of public spaces, and extermination of the black, poor population in the city.

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SMH 2016: Removals in the Olympic city

What is the relationship between expropriations, removals, new housing developments, security policies and large-scale projects in the Olympic city Rio de Janeiro?

The legacy of the World Cup. The Story of Elisangela

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Preparation of Brazil on two mega events

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Vila Autodromo Fights Displacement

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Sustainability at Olympic facilities?

Guanabara-Bucht: Nicht nur die Sportlerinnen und Sportler, auch die lokale Bevölkerung ist von der Verunreinigung der Bucht betroffen.

Guanabara: the river that runs through our village

Thanks to superficial cleaning measures plastic waste will probably not disturb the Olympic Sailing Competitions in the Guanabara Bay. A long-term restoration of the bay, however, stays indispensable as Emanuel Alencar illustrates in this article.

By Emanuel Alencar

Gender relations in Sports

No competition took place in 2012 without female participation instead. Today, women are strongly represented in the competitions. This might suggest that sports have overcome the gender barriers. But there is still much to do.

Editors:
Dawid Bartelt, Marilene de Paula und Manoela Vianna

Editorial Assistance: Selma Clara Creibich, Karina Merencio, Victor Soriano, Petra Tapia, Julia Ziesche

Translation: Fal Azevedo

Contact: Dawid Bartelt, bartelt@br.boell.org