Rio de Janeiro's preparations for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics "have so far mostly focused on efforts to sweep crime off the streets," but now the city "has opened up a new front in its clean-up campaign: a draconian clampdown on litterbugs," according to Jonathan Watts of the London GUARDIAN. As well as an "escalating scale of fines" ranging from £30 ($47) for pet litter to almost £1,000 ($1,500) for fly-tipping, the authorities say they will also give a "dirty name" to citizens who are caught dropping rubbish, and who fail to pay the penalty. This "will be noted on their identification documents, and will appear whenever they apply for credit cards or loans." The lixo zero (zero waste) law "was supposed to have been introduced in July, but was postponed because of the recent papal visit and mass demonstrations against public bus fare increases," which showed widespread resistance to new levies in the city. At the start of the campaign on Tuesday, "sanitation workers were accompanied by armed police officers" (GUARDIAN, 8/20).
