Last night I
went out with some friends to a public debate on the consequences the FIFA
World Cup will have on the city of Salvador. It was interesting enough, but there was one
point in particular that really caught my attention. My first impressions of
Salvador’s preparations for the World Cup were that Salvador was not at all
prepared. The bus system in Salvador is the same as always – there have been days
that I’ve waited for up to an hour for my bus. The absence of bus schedules definitely increases the amount of frustration at the bus stops. The only way to know the times and the routes of each bus,
is to ask.
Now imagine arriving and only knowing how to speak English – good luck
for taking public transport and finding your way around the city, as the majority of people you’ll see on the street
speak absolutely no English – besides basic phrases such as: “The book is on
the table.”
The buses are often overcrowded during peak times, and the traffic
is much worse than it was a few years ago. Not to mention the non-existent metro,
which has been in construction for over twenty years but supposedly won’t be
ready in time for FIFA. Initially, I, as well as all of the Brazilians I talked
to about the arrival of the Cup, said that this was due to the unpreparedness
of the Brazilian government – leaving everything to last minute. But during the
debate, I gained a different perspective on this so-called “unpreparedness”. It
seems to be that this is all part of a strategy. The government is prepared and aware (as well as the FIFA organization), of all the changes that are going to take place, but is keeping this information secret. Everything will come together efficiently and last minute, and it will be much more difficult for the citizens and residents to put up a resistance to the changes that will take place. Many, many people will be moved from their homes, making room for new
infrastructure; the names of neighborhoods will then be changed, becoming more
chic and also more expensive, so that the previous residents will no longer be
able to afford it. It was a very depressing debate.
There is so
much manipulation of information in the media, that no one sees the true consequences
of the FIFA World Cup. I could even draw a parallel between the passivity
of the Brazilian people facing the arrival of FIFA and the lack of
demonstrations against the changes that will take place, and the passivity of
the students on strike at my university. The only thing I notice about the
strike when going to school is that there a few big posters up in several
places on campus, with slogans such as: “UFBA on Strike” and “Free Public
Education for Everyone”, and a much quicker line up at the campus cafeteria
(what was once an hour of waiting in line is now only 15 minutes!) But this
means that the students, rather than being pro-active and using their time to
manifest in the streets, etc, etc, they are at home, at the beach, or at a
party. I’m not saying that all the UFBA students on strike are like this, I am
sure there is a small percentage of representatives that are working hard in
order to improve the situation, but at least from everything I’ve seen and
heard, it certainly seems like the vast majority are.
