The Week in Review, 8/17/2012

Each Friday, through the Brazil Portal feature “The Week in Review”, the Brazil Institute will highlight Brazil’s news topics in one concise summary.

Photo credit: Reuters

To conclude the Olympic Games this year in London, President Dilma Rousseff ceremoniously received the Olympic flag as a token of her nation’s honor to host the upcoming summer Olympics in 2016 in Rio. While four years away, Rio is not shy about discussing future plans for both the Rio Olympics and the World Cup games. Although Brazil won a record amount of medals this year at the Olympic Games, Brazil announced it would be tripling its funding for athletics in order to ensure their continued performance when they host the Games. While Brazil wants their nation and athletes to shine in the 2016 Rio games, they also want to shed light on the theme for the games revolving around our world’s one race. As an initiative to end racial discrimination, Brazil is offering free genetic testing to prove there is no genetic basis for race, (or that race is social constructed), and hopes to offer the genetic testing for both the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.

The Games also give Brazil good reason to increase spending on infrastructure within Brazil. Brazil is now set to spend US$66 billion on developing highways, railways and new systems of infrastructure. Not only will the project deliver the necessary transportation systems for World Cup spectators, but according to President Rousseff it will help Brazil to modernize and become more competitive. Indeed, despite recent lags in the Brazilian economy, the nation has been defying the slow-down by promoting its labor market. The consumer freedom of the emergent middle class has been driving the economy in the right direction, as well as a recent demand for cars in Brazil has brought automotive industries to invest in manufacturing in Brazil. Indeed, this marks a trend for increased foreign investment in Brazil, which has tripled since 2007.  Nevertheless, Brazil will have to maintain good production patterns as it did during its commodities boom to ensure its economy continues to prosper.

About these ads