3.14 Rio 2016 and the Birth of Brazilian Transparency

Brazil’s modern democracy is but three decades old. With the Brazilian people now taking to the streets in protest at public corruption, the government is enacting new laws and learning to effectively enforce them. The nation is thus feeling the growing pains of an emergent commitment to transparency. In this, the window between Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, it is timely to ask what the spotlight of these two events has revealed about the nation’s anti-corruption measures. How is the government responding to exposed corruption risk? Will the Olympics ultimately make good on their promise to be an agent of positive change? This brief article discusses issues related to Brazil’s federal anti-corruption laws generally, its changing procurement laws and the Olympic contracts and governance organisations