BRASILIA: With 10 days to go to the World Cup, Brazil was rushing Monday to finish installing seats in stadiums and deal with threats ranging from violent protests to dengue fever.
The count-down to the June 12 kick-off has been marred by a series of protests, from striking bus drivers who paralyzed Sao Paulo by abandoning their vehicles mid-route to indigenous leaders in bright-feathered headdresses who shot arrows at police in Brasilia, impaling one officer’s leg.
Anger over the more than $11 billion being spent on the event has raised fears of a return to the violence seen last year during the Confederation Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal, when clashes with police broke out as a million people flooded the streets calling for more money for social programs and less for stadiums.
But recent protests have been smaller, with journalists and street vendors sometimes outnumbering those chanting “There won’t be a World Cup!”
In a country that takes great pride in its five World Cup titles, the tournament’s approach is unleashing growing excitement, with local media providing exhaustive coverage of the Brazilian team’s training camp.
That national ambivalence is the target of a meme that has gone viral on social networks.
“I see you! You write on Facebook that ‘There won’t be a World Cup,’ but you’ve planned a barbecue with your friends on game day,” says the caption, attached to a photo of President Dilma Rousseff.
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