Welcome To Rio: City Prepares For Start Of Pan American Games

When the ’07 Pan American Games open tomorrow with an expected 5,500 athletes from 42 countries, officials hope to showcase Rio De Janeiro “as a world-class center for sporting events,” but organizers are "hoping the event doesn’t also spotlight some of Rio’s chronic problems, such as rampant crime and an overburdened airport,” according to Matt Moffett of the WALL STREET JOURNAL.  Event organizers have “taken precautions to locate most competitions at a safe distance from the violent hillside slums.”  However, the city’s civil police “went on strike for higher pay this week and threatened work disruptions during the Games.”  Meanwhile, the government “appeared to narrowly avert a walkout by airport workers on the eve of the Games.”  The government has invested $1-1.5B into new facilities for the event, but overruns “are making private economists uneasy,” as costs have “ballooned to three times original projections, by some counts.”  Rio Mayor Cesar Maia said that if the city “shows it can handle the Pan Am Games ... [it] will have a stronger hand in its bid to attract the Olympics in 2016” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/12).