Why Brazilians Get to Punish Their Politicians for World Cup Fiasco

By Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News

09 July 14

orld Cup host team and 5-time champion Brazil, which Nate Silver picked to win the entire tournament for a sixth time, looked like kindergarten students on the field with Germany yesterday. Wednesday's semifinal in Belo Horizonte is now officially known as the most one-sided beatdown in World Cup semifinals history.

Brazil's tragic loss comes on the heels of the Brazilian government forcefully evicting a quarter of a million people from their homes in the run-up to the cup, bulldozing decades-old properties, and spending $14 billion to build expensive soccer stadiums. As Germany’s 7th and final goal sailed in, the German word “schadenfreude” came to mind. Bluntly, that word translates to “pleasure at the misfortune of others.” Now, the most unfortunate people in Brazil, aside from possibly the Brazilian team’s goalkeeper, are the nation’s political and ruling classes.

The Brazilian government spent over $900 million on a soccer stadium in the national capital of Brasilia, where there is no local soccer team. Brazil’s taxpayers shelled out billions in tax revenues to pay for the construction of the stadiums, despite the majority of people wanting that money to go toward public services like education, health care, jobs, and the social safety net. In Brazil, where inequality has long been at staggering levels, there's never been a greater need for those unfunded services.

The contractors who built the 12 stadiums, four of which cannot be supported by their cities after the World Cup, were mostly donors to the campaigns of politicians who approved the spending. One builder, Andrade Gutierrez, who was awarded over $3 billion in contracts, donated $73,180 during the 2008 municipal elections. And contractors have overcharged the government by roughly $9 billion since FIFA selected Brazil as the host country for the 2014 cup.

When Brazilians tried to exercise their right to nonviolently protest the outright corruption behind the World Cup, they were met with riot police and tear gas canisters. On the eve of the World Cup’s first round, Brazil’s transportation workers went on strike in Sao Paulo, essentially shutting the city down. Unions were hit with a $27,000 fine for each day of the strike, which was called off a day later. City officials marked homes for demolition to make way for tourist accommodations without even contacting homeowners. Homeowners that were given reparations were given an amount in the neighborhood of $10,000 Brazilian Real ($22,000 USD), for property that was worth at least $100,000 Real ($220,000 USD).

All of these injustices were inflicted with the intent of an anticipated World Cup win overshadowing the inequities. The Brazilian government was banking on the forgiveness of the people for their corruption and scandals surrounding the World Cup in exchange for a 6th title. Instead of the trophy, all the Brazilian people have is a demolished, dispirited national team that has to sit out the final in their own home country. This October, when Brazilian voters go to the polls to elect new members of Congress and a new president, they’ll remember the horrors of the 2014 World Cup. Not just the crushing loss to Germany, but the crushing loss of their homes and social services.

This year’s World Cup was just a taste of what’s to come if the current corrupt government continues to rule Brazil. When the country prepares to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, you can bet these same government officials will have no qualms about forcing out more impoverished families to make room for wealthy white tourists. After suffering their most embarrassing loss of all time – live, before the whole world – on top of all the suffering they’ve already had to endure to host the event, Brazilians are pissed. They’re looking for someone to blame. Election Day is right around the corner, and there's no better way to punish corrupt politicians by firing them.

Carl Gibson, 27, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nonviolent grassroots movement that mobilized thousands to protest corporate tax dodging and budget cuts in the months leading up to Occupy Wall Street. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary We're Not Broke, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Carl is also the author of How to Oust a Congressman, an instructional manual on getting rid of corrupt members of Congress and state legislatures based on his experience in the 2012 elections in New Hampshire. He lives in Sacramento, California.

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