President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made an impassioned pitch to host the 2016 Olympics on Thursday, saying Brazil deserves to host the games and not be treated like a “second-class citizen.”
This week the International Olympic Committee evaluation team is touring Rio de Janeiro, which along with Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo is a finalist to host the games.
Silva met with the IOC members, and afterward told a small group of foreign reporters that South America was long overdue to host its first Olympics.
“We want to prove that the time of this country being treated like a second-class citizen has ended,” Silva said. “We want to be treated like first-class citizens.”
Silva — whom U.S. President Barack Obama called the world’s most popular politician when the two met at the Group of 20 economic summit this month — dismissed the notion that the bidding process had become a popularity contest between him and the American leader.
“This is a competition that does involve Obama and Lula,” Silva said, referring to himself with the nickname he was popularly known by. “It is not a dispute between two people, it is a dispute between two projects.”
But Silva — a charismatic former union leader who fought against Brazil’s military dictatorship in the early 1980s — used his negotiating acumen and ability to sway an audience while making the case for Rio’s bid.
He highlighted the fact that Brazil, arguably more than any other nation, has shaken off the blows of the global financial crisis as proof of his nation’s readiness to host the Olympics.
“Here in Latin America, all our lives we’ve had to prove that we know how to do things. The global crisis has unveiled the mask of many and shown the truth,” he said in a thinly disguised reference to the U.S., which he has repeatedly blasted for starting the crisis and not doing enough to end it.
“Brazil was always seen as a fragile country, but this crisis has shown that we were the country better prepared to confront the crisis,” Silva said. “Brazil deserves more than any other nation to host these games.”
The four finalists are in a dash that culminates on Oct. 2, when the winner is chosen by a secret ballot by the full IOC at its session in Copenhagen.
Chicago is aiming to take the games back to the U.S. for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Madrid is back again after a third-place finish in the vote for 2012.
Tokyo, which held the games in 1964, hopes to bring the Olympics to Asia just eight years after Beijing.
Brazilian officials have said that the nation’s hosting of the 2014 World Cup and Rio’s vast experience in holding international events such as Carnival boost the city’s bid.
They’ve also said its $14.4 billion bid plan and the city’s beauty would provide an unrivaled stage for the event.
The 13-member IOC team arrived in Rio on Monday after visiting Tokyo and Chicago. It will tour Madrid later. The commission will tour the city’s sports facilities and tourist sites on Friday.
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