Wednesday, August 03, 2016

The Brazillionaire families at the heart of the Olympic construction bribes scandal...

The Olympics were supposed to be Brazil’s chance to show off its progress toward developed-nation status. Instead, they reveal a country still haunted by violence, mismanagement, economic crisis and corruption.

In the host city of Rio de Janeiro, investigators have recently uncovered millions of dollars in bribes skimmed from Olympic projects. This adds to the cost of an already wasteful event, but the backstory also reveals how Brazil’s elites hold on to power.

Some of Brazil’s richest families are at the heart of the Olympic scandals. I dug into their lives while working as a 'Billionaires Reporter’ for Bloomberg News in São Paulo, where I covered the ultra-rich as a full-time job. This gave me a rare window on one of the world’s most unequal countries, where money and influence have long been concentrated in few hands.

Describing his country in the 1970s, a Brazilian economist coined the term Belíndia - islands of Belgium inside a sea of India - and in many places, it still rings true. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Inside Rio’s favelas, the city's neglected neighborhoods...
  2. Brazil officials evict families from homes ahead of 2016 Olympic Games...
  3. UN: Brazil's police kill kids to "clean streets" for Olympics...
  4. Students Speak: the Rio Olympics come at a cost to Brazil's poorest...
  5. There’s a mass expat exodus from Brazil...
  6. The Rio Olympics are in total disarray...

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