Brazil’s New Government imposes Rio Water Privatization to Pay for Olympic Games

‘A few weeks after the May coup against Dilma Rousseff by conservative parties backed by the country’s largest corporations, Brazil’s “interim” government, led by Michel Temer, signed an emergency loan to the State of Rio de Janeiro to help finance infrastructure for the 2016 Olympics – in particular for a subway line connecting the sports venues. The bailout was conditional to selling off the State’s public water supply and sanitation company, the Companhia Estadual de Águas e Esgotos (Cedae).
When we interviewed City Councillor and chair of Rio’s Special Committee on the Water Crisis Renato Cinco, in December 2015, he was already warning against such privatisation threats and provided important background information on the water situation in Rio. We are releasing a transcription of the interview.’
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