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After the Party: Rio de Janeiro's Perfect Storm of Corruption

By Maurício Santoro

Mega-events and oil exploration were supposed to bring prosperity – instead, Rio de Janeiro is struggling to pay its debts.

I teach at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, one of the most important educational institutions in Brazil, with more than 30,000 students. Broad programs of affirmative action have ensured that many of those students are from poor backgrounds, often the first members of their families to go to college. They are part of the new middle class of 40 million Brazilians who left poverty in the last decade. One year ago, when Rio prepared for the global party that was the Olympics, many felt as though it was their celebration too – the future seemed brighter for them, for their families,...

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