Rousseff: Athletes, visitors to get warm welcome despite political instability
Rousseff at the Olympic torch light-up ceremony at Palácio do Planalto this morning.
President Dilma Rousseff said today (May 3) that Brazil will give foreign athletes and visitors a warm welcome to the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in spite of the current political instability in the country. Rousseff was at the Olympic torch light-up ceremony at Palácio do Planalto this morning.
“We know the political difficulties facing our country today. We have been through political instability. Even amid a very, very difficult period, a truly critical time in our history and the history of democracy in our country, Brazilians will be able to coexist with others, because we have created every condition to provide the finest hospitality for all athletes and all visitors from other countries. I'm sure that a country where people know how to stand up for their rights, which values and knows how to protect its democracy is a country where the Olympics will enjoy the best of success in the coming months,” she said.
A lamp with the Olympic flame was flown to Brasília today. The city is the starting point for a 95-day relay that will travel 328 cities across the five regions of the country, through the hands of 12,000 people. The tour will be completed on August 5 at Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, where the torch will be used for igniting the Olympic cauldron, and a ceremony will kick-off the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Rousseff: Athletes, visitors to get warm welcome despite political instability
