Rio De Janeiro Olympic Games Planning Chief Silva Says Deadlines 'Very Short'

The army general appointed three months ago to coordinate planning for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games "compares his new job to 'changing a tire on a car that’s moving,'" according to the AP. Major General Fernando Azevedo e Silva acknowledged in an interview in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper that deadlines are "very short" to prepare South America’s first Olympics. With less than three years to go, preparations for the Rio Games "remain dogged by construction delays, financial uncertainties, environmental worries and possible public protests." Silva said, "We have one thing we can’t change, the date of the opening of the Olympics: Aug. 5, 2016. Time will dictate the work" (AP, 1/13).