Lima, Peru will host the 2019 Pan American Games, according to CBC. Lima won with 31 votes, "easily beating out what was considered its stiffest competition in Santiago, Chile." Santiago and La Punta, Argentina received "nine votes each." Venezuela's Ciudad Bolivar received eight. Delegates from 41 national sports organizations voted Friday as part of the general assembly. Lima, which "is expected to be home to 12 million people by 2019, will host the Games for the first time." Lima's bid presenters talked about "running a compact Games, featuring two clusters of sport venues." Peruvian National Olympic Committee President Jose Quinones "had to choke back tears" at one point in the presentation. Quinones: "The Games will do great things for our country and in turn we will do great things for the Pan American family" (CBC, 10/11). LIBERO reported Lima Mayor Susana Villarán called for Lima citizens to "emulate Barcelona in the 1992 Olympics and reinvent the city for the 2019 Pan American Games." Villarán on Saturday led a ceremony in Lima's Plaza Mayor, "where she was accompanied by various athletes." Villarán remarked that an "event of this magnitude would require a big investment that will allow for major upgrades to infrastructure, transportation and employment." Villarán: "There will be a lot of work because it will be a big investment. We are going to reinvent Lima for these Games the way Barcelona did (in '92), because a city with big challenges will make big achievements" (LIBERO, 10/12).
