By Chesney Hearst, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was booed by crowds on Saturday, June 15th as she officially opened the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brasília. This comes amidst ongoing countrywide protests against bus fare hikes and spending for international sports events, as well as Rousseff’s recent decrease in approval ratings.
The booing began in the crowd of over 70,000 spectators during FIFA president Joseph “Sepp” Blatter’s opening remarks, in which he showed “gratitude to the Brazilian authorities, led by President Dilma Rousseff.”
The booing continued while President Rousseff made a brief statement with Blatter interjecting, “Friends of Brazilian football, where is the respect and fair play, please?”
His attempts at pacifying the crowds only seemed to intensify the booing. President Rousseff, who did not look pleased, then officially opened the games.
As the match between Brazil and Japan progressed, the hashtag #chupadilma (suck it, Dilma – free translation) began to trend worldwide on Twitter.
Elsewhere on social networking sites, other memes have started to appear. One that was posted on Facebook features a plea in English asking foreigners to not attend the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It states, in part:
“Dear Non-Brazilian Friend, Please take it seriously: Don’t Come to Brazil World Cup 2014. Our governors have wasted billions building stadiums that should cost half and won’t bring any improvements for the life quality of the population[…]”
However, President Rousseff and the PT (Workers’ Party) continue to press forward, announcing more massive investments as part of the second phase of PAC 2 (Aceleração do Crescimento 2), a program that funds public works.
The Confederations Cup will continue with games in the Brazilian cites of Brasília, Salvador, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte and Recife. The sporting event will conclude on June 30th in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã stadium.
Read more (in Portuguese).
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