Government Failed to Promote the World Cup, Says Minister

04/15/2014 - 09h27

Gilberto Carvalho, Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, said yesterday that the Federal Government made a "mistake" of not prioritizing the communication with the public about the benefits of hosting the World Cup. Therefore, the opposition and the press tried to transform the event in a "tragedy", he assured.

Carvalho was in Porto Alegre to participate in a debate with social movements about the tournament legacy. The Minister is the main government interlocutor for these groups.

"We realized that we failed during this process as we did not invest in communication. We did not inform the citizen about what the World Cup means in its totality.", he said to the journalists as he arrived in the event.

In his opening speech for the activists he asserted that the government "only thinks of working and forgets about communicating".

"It allowed that, in general, the mainstream press and the opposition sectors of the government tried to transform the World Cup in a tragedy, bringing loss to the Brazilian people."

He also said that the protests must be "over real facts" and not over people who does not want the "World Cup to succeed". "They want to use the World Cup to affect the continuation of our project", said Carvalho, without pointing fingers.

DELAYS

Regarding the World Cup projects, the Minister said that, if some of them are not ready in time, "it does not matter". "The important is that
they are finished. If not in June, then in November, December."

The Minister will participate in meetings with the social movements in the 12 capitals that will host the matches in order to hear their claiming.

In the event, a government's representative listed the benefits the World Cup should bring to the country, such as international exposure, job creation and tourism growth. He also compared the cost of preparations for the World Cup with the health and education budget.

After the speeches of Porto Alegre government's representative and the Town Hall, the social movement's leaders talked. They criticized the removal of citizens from their homes to enable the street projects, the possibility of sex exploitation growth and the police violence during protests.

Translated by JULIANA CALDERARI

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Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress

Gilberto Carvalho, Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency