By Mark Bacon
The morning of July 25th, Haven Harrington III informed me via text that an Olympic athlete was kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brasil, site of the 2016 Summer Olympics. News of a forthcoming Athletic Apocalypse 2016 is not news—it's a constant refrain this year regarding the Rio Olympics. The Games begin August 5th and run until the 22nd; the voices will get louder.
Here's the kidnapping report, via Deadspin:
New Zealand MMA fighter Jason Lee says men in police uniforms kidnapped him in Rio de Janeiro, forcing the jiu-jitsu specialist to withdraw money from two ATMs and hand it over, or be be arrested.
That’s according to the New Zealand Herald, citing Lee’s social media posts: On Facebook, Lee wrote “yesterday I got kidnapped in Brazil.” Lee said he was kidnapped by people in police uniforms, “not by some random people with guns.”
He added “I was threatened with arrest if I did not get in their private car and accompany them to two ATMs to withdraw a large sum of money for a bribe. I’m not sure what’s more depressing, the fact this stuff is happening to foreigners so close to the Olympic Games or the fact that Brazilians have to live in a society that enables this absolute bullshit on a daily basis. This place is well and truly f***ked in every sense of the word imaginable.”
Lee appears to have been living in Brazil long enough to integrate himself into a jiu-jitsu gym; his YouTube page has videos as recent as this week featuring his fellow fighters. The Olympics begin in less than two weeks; Rio police are already warning visitors that they are not safe.
July 5, 2016: Eduardo Paes, mayor of Rio de Janeiro, told CNN that the state is, “Completely failing at its work of policing and taking care of people.” His comments come on the heels of the Rio de Janeiro state, which is responsible for the region’s military and police force, requesting emergency funds in order to distribute back pay to police officers. That request was made weeks ago, and judging by they protests that were staged yesterday, those funds still have not been received.
Cheery, no? That may only be the tip of the iceberg, according to many pundits and news agencies. There's the Zika Epidemic—which is very real in the impoverished state of Pernambuco, in Brasil's equatorial north east—which was the cause of many an athlete to withdraw. Golfers, too. (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.) The Russian Doping Scandal. A brand new subway system fraught with problems (like DC's Metro). Venues decried for all they lack. Guanabara Bay's pollution, the site of rowing and sailing events. The Australian Delegation's refusal to move into the Athlete's Village due to unsafe conditions. (The US Team will be staying in "luxury ships" offshore.)
Additionally, Brasil has been embroiled in an impeachment process against their President, Dilma Rousseff. The impeachment process against Dilma began in late 2015 and continued through the first half of 2016. The impeachment request against the President was accepted by Eduardo Cunha, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, on 2 December 2015. The charges against Rousseff include administrative misconduct and disregarding the federal budget, in violation of Article 85, items V and VI, of the Brazilian Constitution. The scandal's net includes Petrobras, the national oil company, and improper funds received. The former (and until now, beloved) former President, Lula, is named in the scandal as a recipient of the ill-gotten gains.
Need a break from the good news yet? Maybe I can help? I love Rio, and have spent time there. Extended time. I won't say I lived there, but long stays affording me to meet many unforgettable Cariocas (a native of Rio is a Carioca. Think Tom Jobim's "Ela é Carioca".)
Cariocas are THE MOST friendly and welcoming people I have encountered. Their sense of joie de vie is unsurpassed, including the French.
The city is a Samba. It's a Bossa Nova. It sways and moves to the waves and breeze through the trees. You can hear it, if you just tune in. It's unique. It is not going to bend to you, you bend to it. Much was made of trains running on time in Mussolini's Fascist Italy. Rio could not be more far removed from Fascist Italy, although Brasil has suffered under the hands of several dictators. Things in Rio run on Rio Time. It's not rude, it just is the norm. Want a 16:00 meeting? Schedule it for 13:00.
Sports are huge in Brasil. Futebol, or Soccer, is of course the national obsession. O Jogo Bonito. The beautiful game. It's an Olympics sport this year, and Brasilian futebol star, Neymar, is under a microscope. Maybe more than USA Basketball will be.
Back to the main issue, the "sh*tshow." Infrastructure and readiness of the Games' various venues. And safety. It IS a country in economic turmoil. It's been that way for a while now, after a modest boom under former President Lula.
Chicago, who bid on these Games, has some very mean streets and one of the highest homicide rates in the USA. Would people be safer there, if they wandered "off the path"? No. No more than people who decide to ignore solid advice about where they can safely go and how to comport themselves. Like flashing an iPhone. Or wearing a ju-jitsu shirt looking like a bad ass? Just a thought...?
Rio is a blast. Fantastic beaches, people, night life, street cafes, the best MUSIC in the world (my take, admittedly; Chicago Jazz and Hip Hop are pretty great, too!) and a wonderful climate. Most people I know react to the inconveniences, delays, break downs, pollution, poor conditions in housing, crime, poverty, bad breaks, setbacks, and the intimidating law enforcement on first "brush" with them. It quickly vanishes.
People usually come to Rio, have the time of their lives, and negative impressions disappear. My take is that people who attend, inconveniences and all, will remark they have never had a better time. Maybe ever.
There are the Games themselves, of course, and I believe, with NBC's help, it will all go off without a hitch. (If you expect a corpse to wash ashore at the beach volleyball venue, I'm sorry to disappoint, but it's not going to happen.) The 2016 Olympics offers the best collection of returning Olympic stars in decades, from Michael Phelps to Usain Bolt to Kerri Walsh to the U.S women’s basketball team and many more. Rio de Janeiro is one of the world's most beautiful cities, some of the world's most beautiful people in their hearts and unforgettable beauty will quickly capture the most resistant individual. The people of Brasil are incredibly warm and welcoming, and go out of their way to make sure visitors to their country feel comfortable. Rio will steal your heart and live in you the rest of your days. I bet some of that alegria, that felicidade, will become part of their fabric, and I hope yours, in the coming weeks.
If not, qualquer coisa... Vai O Brasil!!!
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