Brazil's economy is a mess and its President is facing impeachment. Can Rio make it to the Olympics?

2016-04-12T17:57:00-04:00

For Brazil’s economy, the near future probably features a period of stagnation, as a government paralyzed by political crisis dodges the tough choices created by strong inflation, rising budget deficits and, at best, a touch of economic growth in 2017 after hitting rock bottom in 2016. [...] Demonstrators have turned out in numbers larger than in 1984 — when Brazilians of all stripes united to throw off military rule— to demand [President] Rousseff’s ouster

As reported by Reuters today, a congressional committee has recommended impeaching President Rousseff, partially in response to charges that during her 2014 re-election, she broke campaigning budget laws. This Sunday, the entire lower house will vote, and if the decision to impeach receives two-thirds majority, it will continue to Brazil's Senate.

From Reuters:

The political chaos in the capital, Brasilia, is playing out less than 100 days before the nation plays host to the first Olympic Games to be held in South America - an event that will cast the world's eyes on Brazil.

The battle over Rousseff's impeachment has polarized the nation of 200 million people and brought the government of Latin America's largest economy to a virtual standstill.

All this in the midst of a gigantic corruption scandal within the state-run oil company Petrobras, anxiety from the ongoing Zika virus, and weak Olympic ticket sales – although, thankfully, Olympic preparations are "ahead of schedule" for the op...

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Brazil's economy is a mess and its President is facing impeachment. Can Rio make it to the Olympics?