Protests? It must be World Cup 2014 in Brazil

(My new American Thinker post)

Normally,  Brazil shuts down when the national soccer team is playing a World Cup game, especially if the locals are playing at home!  However, a lot of people in Brazil will be keeping an eye on the protests this summer.

We saw more across the country, as reported by The Washington Post:

"Protests and strikes gripped several World Cup host cities Thursday as unrest spread less than a month before the soccer tournament begins. 
About 1,000 people gathered for a World Cup demonstration in central Rio, playing musical instruments and holding up afternoon rush-hour traffic as hundreds of riot police stood by. By early evening, the number of protesters had more than doubled as striking teachers and university administration workers joined in. 
“We are against the cup for the spending and for forgetting health and education,” said striking teacher Eduardo Douglas. 
A 48-hour bus strike in the city — the second in a week — ended Wednesday night, but a strike by security guards entered its 21st day. 
“The World Cup here in Brazil is the worst thing in the world for workers,” said Umberto Rocha, a director of a union for Rio security guards, speaking at a meeting. “They are investing in stadiums and forgetting the people.”"

Investing in stadia? Yes, but some won't be ready!  The government is already giving up on unfinished projects, according to news reports.

The games will happen and Brazil is the favorite to win, especially at home.

However, The World Cup proves that it takes more to run an event than a love of soccer, or "futbol."  It also takes efficiency and a less bureaucratic government.

Finally, Brazil is lucky that they are holding the World Cup first and the Olympics in 2016.  The Olympics will be a much more complicated task, with a lot more countries, athletes and visitors.

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.

New Politics Internet Radio with Silvio Canto Jr on BlogTalkRadio

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We remember Lorenzo H Zambrano (1944-2014)

We learned today that Lorenzo H Zambrano died in Madrid.  He was 70 and I’m not familiar with the details of his death.

Mr Zambrano was one of the most successful businessmen in Latin America, as his obituary indicates:

“Lorenzo Hormisdas Zambrano Treviño was born on March 27, 1944, in Monterrey, where his grandfather founded what would become Cemex in 1906. He studied engineering at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, and earned a master’s degree in business administration at Stanford University before joining Cemex in 1968.

In 1985, he became the company’s chief executive and in 1995, he added the role of chairman. He held both posts at his death.”

He was a dynamic businessman and ahead of his time:

“Beginning in 1992, Mr. Zambrano bought up far-flung producers to create the third-largest cement company in the world. He remade each new acquisition, introducing high technology and logistical efficiencies that made Cemex the subject of business school case studies at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

From his own computer Mr. Zambrano could monitor any Cemex operation in more than 50 countries, said Rossana Fuentes-Berain, a Mexican journalist who wrote a 2007 book about Mr. Zambrano, “Grey Gold.”

What distinguished him was “the technology, the management and the hunger to prove that you can be as good as anybody in the market,” Ms. Fuentes-Berain said.”

A great story to say the least!

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