Voices: Brazilians remain optimistic amid chaos

RIO DE JANEIRO — The way Cassia Moreira sees it, the 2016 Summer Olympics couldn't be coming at a worse time for Brazil.

Prosecutors continue exposing the depths of a staggering corruption scandal that has led to the conviction of many of the country's top business executives and threatens to ensnare dozens of politicians. The president, Dilma Rousseff, is suspended and awaiting a Senate trial to determine whether she'll be permanently removed from office. The nation's once-promising economy is tanking, protests are a daily occurrence, violence is on the rise, and the country has been unable to contain the fast-spreading Zika virus.

Moreira sees all that and shakes her head.

"How can we receive guests when we're still cleaning our house?" she told me as she crafted empanadas in her restaurant outside of Rio de Janeiro. "Are we going to ask them to sit in all this dirt?"

That sentiment shows just how far Brazil has fallen from a booming period in the late 2000s when the South American nation was seen as the world's next economic powerhouse.

Global investors were flocking there, snatching up commodities and investing heavily in the country. In 2007, Brazil was awarded the World Cup. In 2009, it was awarded the Olympics. In 2010, Brazil's GDP grew by a stunning 7.5%, leading many to believe that the nation was finally emerging as a global leader.

By the time I visited here for the first time in 2014, just as the nation was preparing to host the World Cup, the current had shifted. Brazilians weren't even aware of the recently launched corruption probe that would shake its political and economic foundations, but they were already protesting in the streets over inadequate spending on health care, education, police and public transportation. Many wondered why the country was spending billions on a series of soccer matches when the economy was spiraling downward so quickly.

So now, after two more years of dismal headlines and depressing jobs reports, those feelings have only intensified.

Brazilians can easily cite the number of unemployed people in the country: 11 million. A sharp recession is in its second year. That has contributed to Brazil becoming increasingly violent, with 21 of its cities making a list of the world's 50 deadliest cities last year.

The anger over that wide-ranging collapse can be felt all over. While construction for the Olympics continues in preparation for the August Games, so do the protests. As I traveled throughout Rio and its outskirts on Tuesday, I stumbled into one protest over cuts in health care salaries and another decrying political corruption.

In the lead-up to the World Cup, the only saving grace was that this soccer-crazed country was excited to see its home team. But even that ended up being a national disgrace, as Brazil lost in the semifinals to Germany, 7-1.

This year, Brazilians aren't nearly as forgiving when they're being asked to pay for buildings to house indoor cycling and table tennis.

Combine all those factors and it's easy to see why so many Brazilians are reluctant to embrace the Olympics. But after only a few days down here, I've found myself surprised by another sentiment that is clearly prevalent: optimism.

Moreira has seen first-hand what Brazil's economic collapse has caused. On Jan. 5, 2014, after a Christmas vacation to visit her family, she woke up, got ready for work as a welder, walked down to the corner and waited for a company bus that never came. She later found out that her company, one of several building a multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant an hour's drive outside of Rio, had folded and left town. In all, more than 20,000 Brazilians lost their jobs as the project, known as Comperj, got caught up in the nation's ever-growing corruption scandal.

Yet the mother of two can't help but smile when talking about the future of her city and her country. She has fared better than most since losing her job by giving up her soldering iron for baking pans. She started making the empanadas her mother taught her as a child and selling them on the street. She later opened a small storefront and is planning to expand soon.

She said the hardships she endured are similar to what her country is going through. And like so many Brazilians I've spoken to, Moreira assumes that the country's best days lie ahead.

"If you're going to clean your house, there first has to be a mess," she said. "But after you've cleaned it, it's better than it was before."

Gomez covers Latin America for Paste BN.  Follow him on Twitter @alangomez