Rio De Janeiro's Olympic Venues Ready For Games, But Other Issues Remain

Olympic inspectors "are taking their final look this week at Rio de Janeiro’s preparations," according to Stephen Wade of the AP. The IOC team "will find most of the venues ready to show off to billions of television viewers" when the Games open in just under four months. But trouble "lingers behind the cameras." Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff "is fighting impeachment and could be out of office when the Olympics open" on Aug. 5. The country is in its worst recession since the '30s with unemployment at 10%. Many Brazilians "have more serious worries" than South America’s first Games. Last week the Greek Olympic Committee said that Rousseff "would skip the Olympic torch-light ceremony on April 21 in Greece." Away from politics, the Zika virus and raw sewage in area waters "may be scaring away fans and even some athletes, budgets are being cut everywhere including with security, and there are suspicions that corruption has touched some Olympic-related building projects" (AP, 4/10).