Thursday, May 08, 2014

World Cup Woes

Thousands of protesters have camped outside stadiums in Brazil’s largest city of Sao Paulo, where the opening match of the World Cup will soon be played. In the neighborhood of Itakera about 2,000 people have occupied a land close to the Arena Corinthians stadium, which host the opening match.

The protesters say they are fed up with the rise in rents for housing and want to show their anger at Brazil’s hosting of the sports event while poverty remains a major problem in the country. House rents in Sao Paulo are one of the highest in the world.

“We have to choose between feeding our children and paying the rent. Because becoming hungry is worse than becoming homeless. The money spent on stadiums could have been used to provide us with a place to live,” said Laura Cristina da Silva, the leader of the Homeless Movement in Brazil.

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