Rio de Janeiro’s catastrophe under Mayor Crivella

In 2016, it seemed as if Rio de Janeiro was turning a corner. Hosting the Olympic Games, just two years after lending its legendary Maracanã stadium as the stage for the football World Cup final, there was a hope that the bad press Rio had received in the 1990s and 2000s—with urban violence reaching war-like levels—was now in the past. Rio de Janeiro would no longer be a dangerous destination, they hoped, but rather a unique opportunity to enjoy iconic beach landscapes without having to relinquish any of the conveniences of being in a major global city.

Just three years later, Rio de Janeiro has declared bankruptcy. Marred in a health and administrative crisis under Mayor Marcelo Crivella, with public servants left without their wages, local people are scratching their heads and wondering where it all went wrong.

Common misconception

It would be easy to presume that Rio fell afoul of the same problems as other mid-sized Olympic cities, where lavish and oversized construction works took cities such as Montreal and Athens under. But this was not the case in the “Wonderful City,” not at all. However,...