Another reason to support Brazil

Jun 13, 2014 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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There are many Guyanese who are supporting Brazil in this year’s FIFA World Cup which kicked off yesterday. Brazil is the host and apart from the obvious advantage of playing at home, they are considered as one of the tournament’s favourites because of their win in last year’s Confederations Cup also held in Brazil.
Many Guyanese are rooting for Brazil, if only because they are Brazil. I often wonder if Venezuela made it to the World Cup Finals whether as many Guyanese would root for that country as they do for Brazil.
It is not as if so many Guyanese have actually analyzed the teams and decided that Brazil has the best chance. Many of them have not done this sort of analysis. They are simply supporting Brazil because this is the team that they wish to win rather than the team which they have assessed has the best chances of making it to the finals and winning that game to be crowned champions.
Any assessment as to which teams are likely to win the tournament has to examine the various groups in which the teams are pooled. There are at least two highly contested groups in this tournament which could see the doom of some of the more favoured teams. And given the groupings, it is possible that Brazil will have to play its toughest match in the second round after the group stages. And they could well go out that early.
The Peeper does not know who will win. His analysis shows that this tournament, given the groupings, could be up for anyone’s grab. The Peeper is not writing off the home team, but believes that at least four teams have a good chance of winning this tournament and being crowned champions of the world.
But the Peeper is rooting for Brazil in another respect.  You see, ever since Brazil won the rights to host the FIFA World Cup and ever since it won the rights to host the 2016 Olympics Games, there has been a systematic and non-stop campaign to muddy the image of that country. This onslaught has been carried out by the western media.
It began with the highlighting of crime in that country and especially conveying the impression that many areas of the country are crime-infested and not safe. The intention was to discourage tourists. The western media continued to take this line of attack despite the many operations by the military into the ‘favelas’ or areas which are normally considered as slums.
Up to yesterday, the western media was highlighting the threat that these areas posed to an exotic experience, which is the experience that the Brazilians have been promoting to attract visitors to the World Cup promotion.
Not satisfied with tarnishing the image of Brazil by highlighting crime, last year in the run-up to the Confederations Cup, the western media began a scare tactic by suggesting that there were major structural problems with some of the stadiums. The idea was to indicate that the various venues were not safe. The agenda here was not just aimed at the World Cup, but also at the facilities which will have to be used two years onwards for the Olympics in Rio.
Then, of course, in the midst of the Confederations Cup the western media added fuel to protests which were taking place in Brazil, but which did not affect any of the matches that were played. There are indeed problems in Brazil, and some sections of that country’s society will use the World Cup to extract concessions from the government, since they know for example that the government would be keen to avoid a shutdown of the metro during the World Cup.
What is the message that the western media are sending here? They are reinforcing the need for persons to be cautious about going to Brazil for the World Cup. This, of course, is part of a wider agenda. Brazil has emerged as growing economic power. It is the largest economy in South America and is considered one of the emerging economies in the world along with Russia, India, China and South Africa. Together they form the acronym BRICS.
The BRICS have not quite lived up to expectations, but Brazil can become a major threat to western economic interests in Latin America because of the sheer size of the economy, the growth of its industrial sector, and its open defiance of western arrogance. The hosting of the World Cup and the Olympics will raise Brazil’s standing internationally and bring greater economic opportunities for that country.
For these reasons, the Peeper feels that Brazil needs to win the World Cup, just to remind the imperialists that this part of the world is no longer their backyard. But to win the World Cup, the Brazilians will have to surmount a major hurdle after the group stages. If they do, they stand a good chance of taking the title.

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