A few weeks ago, Vox released a video of what was going on in Rio prior to the 2016 World Olympics. It illustrates the kind of pandering and whitewashing the Brazilian government is willing to do to cover up the poverty in their country. They are afraid the world will see that they have not been properly taking care of their people, and have been implementing mass discrimination in an effort to make the area looking a little nicer for the cameras during the Olympics. Honestly, it's disgusting.
The Brazilian government actually placed a wall up to block off the view of slums and anything that could expose the deep poverty within the nation. This couldn't be anything more than blatant discrimination.
It's as if they are saying "You guys aren't important enough to show off to the world, our games are much more important than your homes and your lives".
What's even move daring is that they've made the wall transparent when approaching the schools and more rich areas, yet they continue to allow their citizens to not "have sewage systems" or "housing rights". Tourism and media seem to take priority over the lives of the people and "they're frustrated that their government spends so much money to build up certain parts of the city and completely neglect others". Because they do not have housing rights, the government can simply issue an order to demolish the property in preparation for the Olympic games. Some areas that were stricken with poverty faced conflict when the Brazilian government realized their homes were in the sight of the games. The government did, of course, give them some form of reparation through a small sum of money. Some of the people here are hungry, and tired. A lot of them would happily take the money and relinquish their property.
But what about the people who wanted to stay on their property? Well, they fought to keep their homes but were removed, promptly.
Eventually the international community realized what was happening and the backlash the mayor received is what forced him to allow the remaining people to stay as long as their house could be remodeled so the press doesn't see the real Rio when the Olympics arrive.
They've intentionally made it difficult for the people to get down to the much more richer South Zone of Rio, and keep them at bay within the North Zone.
The Olympic games have brought in a large amount of money for the nation, but as always, money dictates the actions of the government and the lives of the people.
You can view the video from Vox here; https://goo.gl/IuMT8v
