By Andrew Warshaw
June 5 – Despite the stadium delays, overspending and widespread adverse publicity about crime and poverty, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has come out fighting ahead of the World Cup which kicks off in a week.
She insists the tournament will be a resounding success, telling reporters the kind of problems encountered were commonplace everywhere.
Fresh anti-government protests threaten to mar the tournament but Rousseff said they would not be allowed to disrupt proceedings.
“Everywhere in the world these big engineering projects always go down to the wire,” she told a group of foreign reporters at the presidential residence in Brasilia. “Nobody does a (subway) in two years. Well, maybe China. We fully guarantee people’s security.”
Protesters believe more money should have been spent on public services and earlier this week a small group targeted a World Cup warm-up game between Brazil and Panama in the central city of Goiania.
The demonstrators denounced the huge cost of the tournament while 24 hours later thousands of homeless workers marched peacefully on Arena Corinthians stadium in Sao Paulo, which is to host the opening game.
The Workers Without Homes Movement, demanding more government spending on transport, health, education and low-income housing, shut down one of Sao Paulo’s main highways to the stadium, which is fighting against the clock to get ready for the June 12 opening.
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