LAII lecture series: 'The Olympics, Boom and Bust in Brazil'

In the run-up to the 2016 Olympics, much of the U.S. media coverage played up fears over the Zika virus, terror attacks, and the general safety of athletes and tourists in Rio de Janeiro. But it gave short shrift to the most urgent problems underlying the games, such as wasteful spending, demolitions of poor neighborhoods, and the ongoing violence in the areas of Rio where most outsiders rarely travel.

For a deeper understanding of Rio's Olympic legacy, and of the larger context of Brazil's most recent cycle of boom and bust, join journalist and author Alex Cuadros, who spent six years based in Brazil, for his lecture, “The Olympics, Boom and Bust in Brazil,” on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at 4 p.m. at Zimmerman Library in the Willard Room.

Cuadros is the author of “Brazillionaires: Wealth, Power, Decadence, and Hope in an American Country,” which is based on his experience covering the ultra-rich for Bloomberg News in São Paulo. He has written for The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time and The Washington Post among other publications. Cuadros grew up in Albuquerque and is now based in New York.

This lecture is co-sponsored by Global Education Office (GEO), Center for English Language and American Culture (CELAC), Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII), UNM Bookstore and University Libraries. It is part of the LAII lecture series for Fall 2016.