Is Brazil ready for the limelight?

巴西是否做好了成为全球关注焦点的准备？

Organizing the 2014 World Cup is assured to generate massive amounts of publicity¹ for the South American nation. In fact, it already has. But amid the preparations, the country has already discovered that the limelight can be a double-edged sword.

举办2014年世界杯注定会让这个南美国家出尽风头。事实上，它已经受到了极大的关注。但在准备过程中，这个国家发现，备受瞩目可能是一把双刃剑。

“This should be Brazil’s moment of glory,” says Lourdes Casanova, a senior lecturer of management at Cornell University’s Johnson School and co-author of the recently published The Political Economy of an Emerging Global Power: In Search of the Brazil Dream. “It has an opportunity to show there is more to it than samba, carnival², and beaches. In the past, countries like China, Japan, and Korea have used events like these as a way to tell the world, ‘Here we are, we are one of you. A developed country with the infrastructure³ that comes with it.’”

“这应该是巴西的荣耀时刻，”康奈尔大学(Cornell University)约翰逊商学院(Johnson School)管理学高级讲师，、新书《一个新兴全球大国的政治经济学：追寻巴西梦》(The Political Economy of an Emerging Global Power: In Search of the Brazil Dream)的作者之一卢尔德o卡萨诺瓦说。“巴西有机会展示，除了桑巴舞，、狂欢节和海滩之外，他们还有许多独特之处。在过去，中国、日本和韩国都曾经以举办体育盛事为契机，告诉全世界，‘我们来了，我们是你们中的一员。一个拥有体面基础设施的发达国家。’”

But with massive construction delays in the run-up to the event, that message seems to sound increasingly hollow. Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported recently that less than one month before kick-off, the majority of the intended projects were unfinished. Time overruns have affected⁴ airport transportation systems, fast bus lanes, and no less than three stadium projects.

但鉴于世界杯准备阶段出现了大规模的建设工期延误，这种讯息听起来似乎越来越空洞。巴西《圣保罗页报》(Folha de S. Paulo)日前报道称，距离开赛不到一个月之际，大多数预期完成的项目还没有交工。受工期超时影响的建设工程包括机场交通系统，、快速公交车道，、以及至少三个场馆项目。

Part of the challenge is the sheer scale of the event. The World Cup is hosted by 12 cities that spread out over an area that is roughly the size of the United States. By contrast, the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, arguably an even bigger event, is organized in just one location.

挑战之一是这项赛事的规模。举办世界杯的12座城市分布在一个美国那般大小的区域。相比之下，规模理应更大的2016年里约热内卢奥运会被安排在同一个地方举行。

“The idea behind the World Cup was to let the whole country share in it, while providing an opportunity to improve its infrastructure across the board,” says Casanova. “In retrospect⁵, I think that might have been a mistake.”

“这届世界杯背后的想法是，让整个国家分享足球的快乐，同时借此机会全面改善巴西的基础设施，”卡萨诺瓦说。“现在回想起来，我认为这可能是一个错误。”

From the 1980s to the mid-2000s, the Brazilian government was so immersed in paying off its foreign debt that it barely invested in infrastructure, says Casanova. “That deficit⁶ cannot be solved in less than 10 years.”

从198020世纪80年代到2000年代中期，巴西政府一直在专心致志地偿还外债，几乎没有投资建设基础设施。“在不到10年的时间内，如此大的基础设施欠账根本不可能获得解决。”

Deadline pressure increases the risk of construction companies cutting corners, leading to unsafe and inhumane working conditions. “With mega events like these, there is always a chance that people end up in forced labor⁷ and slave-like conditions,” says Beate Andrees, head of the Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour at the International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations.

交工期限的压力往往会增加施工企业偷工减料的风险，进而导致不安全和不人道的工作条件。“举办这类大型活动时，出现强迫劳动和奴隶般工作条件的可能性总是存在的，”联合国国际劳工组织(ILO)打击强迫劳动特别行动计划(Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour)负责人贝亚特o安德里斯这样说道。

For instance, in the tiny Gulf⁸ state of Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, almost 1,000 people have died in construction related-accidents since January 2012. The Qatari government has since indicated it will improve the living standards of its migrant workers, but the reputation damage (and loss of life) has been done.

例如，在卡塔尔（这个海湾小国将承办2022年世界杯），自从2012年1月份以来，已经有近1,000人死于建设事故。虽然卡塔尔政府表态称，该国这个国家将改善农民工的生活水平，但这些事故造成的声誉和生命损失已经无法挽回。

In Brazil so far, there have been eight World Cup-related deaths. But compared to Qatar, the government has been much more responsive in addressing the problem, says Andrees, who just returned from a monitoring visit to the country. “Its inspection⁹ programs have identified the issue and prevented it from becoming a major disaster.”

到目前为止，巴西已经出现了8起与世界杯相关的死亡事件。但安德里斯说，相比于卡塔尔，巴西政府一直在更加积极主动地解决这一个问题，安德里斯说。他刚刚结束对巴西的监察查访，返回美国。“巴西的检查程序已经明确了问题所在，并且阻止了它演变成一场大灾难。”

Additionally, the Brazilian government has compiled a so-called ‘dirty list’ that publicly identifies companies using slave labor. Employers on the list will be banned from government contracts.

此外，巴西政府已经编撰了一份所谓的“脏名单”，以曝光使用奴隶劳工的企业。这份名单上的雇主将被禁止参与政府合同。

A group of 400 private companies have committed to boycott¹⁰ such “dirty companies” as part of a pact¹¹ against the use of slave labor, says Andrees. “It’s a very effective system that shows the seriousness of the Brazilian government…. It could serve as a model for neighboring countries, such as Peru and Paraguay.”

400家私营企业联名签署了一项反对使用奴隶劳工的协议，安德里斯说，他们已经承诺要抵制这种“脏企业”，安德里斯说。“这是一个非常有效的体系，巴西政府的庄严态度由此可见一斑。它可以作为秘鲁和巴拉圭等周边国家学习的典范。”

The government’s best intentions have not been enough to sway the Brazilian people, though. The run up to the World Cup has been bogged¹² down by massive street protests against corruption¹³, the poor quality of public services, and the unequal distribution of profits. In an interview with German magazine Sport Bild, Brazilian football legend Pele has called the preparations “a disgrace,” blaming “the evil people who have stolen all the money.”

不过，仅凭政府的善意还不足以支配巴西人民的行为。针对腐败、劣质公共服务和利润分配不均的大规模街头抗议等问题，已经让世界杯准备工作陷入了泥沼。巴西足球传奇人物贝利在接受德国杂志《体育图片报》(Sport Bild)采访时，巴西足球传奇人物贝利声称，世界杯准备工作“丢人现眼”，他指责“邪恶的人偷走了所有的钱。”

The public backlash has rained on Brazil’s $14 billion parade even before it has started, says Cornell’s Casanova. “If Brazil has one common religion, it is soccer. Yet the latest surveys show that more than half of the population is against the World Cup. The consensus¹⁴ is broken.”

康奈尔大学的卡萨诺瓦说，甚至在这场耗资140亿美元的盛事还没有开始前，巴西公众就已经发出了暴风骤雨般的反对声浪，康奈尔大学的卡萨诺瓦说：。“如果巴西有存在一个共同的宗教，那就是足球。但最近的调查显示，超过一半的巴西人反对世界杯。共识已经瓦解。”

The street protests are especially challenging for Brazil’s ambitions to present itself as an alternative model for economic growth, says Casanova. “Brazil has a system of state capitalism¹⁵, something in between China and the United States, where the central government has intervened in a number of ways to make society more equal. It has worked for years, but now even the elites¹⁶ are complaining about corruption and inequality.

巴西试图彰显自己作为一种经济增长替代模式的形象，但街头抗议活动使得这番雄心壮志面临特别严峻的挑战。“巴西拥有一套介于中国和美国之间的国家资本主义制度。为了让社会变得更加平等，中央政府已经采取了多种干预手段。多年来，这套制度还算奏效，。但现在，就连精英阶层也开始抱怨腐败和不平等问题。”

Controversy¹⁷ aside, the event is certainly not doomed¹⁸ to fail, says Gustavo Koniszczer, managing director at branding firm FutureBrand, which compiles a Country Brand Index. “Yes, the Brazilian government should do a better job explaining the benefits, and yes, under these circumstances that is not going to be easy. But at least people are talking, which is a good starting point for correcting misconceptions and changing the narrative¹⁹. It’s much harder to address the problem if nobody pays attention.”

撇开争议不谈，这届世界杯肯定不是已经注定了要失败的命运，以编撰国家品牌指数(Country Brand Index)著称的未来品牌战略咨询公司(FutureBrand)执行董事古斯塔沃o康尼斯奇泽尔这样说道。“是的，巴西政府应该更好地解释举办世界杯的好处。没错，在目前这种情况下，这并不是一件容易做到的事情。但至少人们正在谈论讨论这件事，就纠正错误观念，、改变叙事方式而言，这是一个很好的起点。要是没有人关注，解决问题的难度就会大得多。”

From an international point of view, Brazil is already enjoying some of the positive effects of organizing the World Cup, says Koniszczer. In the 2013 Latin American version of the Country Brand Index, Brazil ranks first, after Argentina and Costa Rica. The impact will only increase as the country prepares for the Olympics. “It pretty much guarantees that Brazil will be on everybody’s mind until the end of 2016.”

康尼斯奇泽尔说，从国际上看，巴西已经开始收获举办世界杯的正面效应，康尼斯奇泽尔说。在2013年拉美版国家品牌指数中，巴西位列首位，阿根廷和哥斯达黎加紧随其后。随着巴西不断加快奥运会的准备进程，这种影响只会进一步增大。“几乎可以保证的是，到2016年年底，巴西将出现在每个人的脑海之中。”

Such massive publicity will particularly benefit tourism, says Casanova, who is originally from Barcelona, host of the 1992 Olympics. “That event changed the image of my country completely. Before the games, Spain still had trouble profiling itself as a vacation spot. Now, it is one of the top destinations in the world.”

卡萨诺瓦说，如此大规模的宣传活动特别有利于旅游业，卡萨诺瓦说。他的家乡巴塞罗那曾经主办过1992年奥运会。“那场体育盛事彻底改变了我们国家的形象。主办奥运会前，西班牙仍然很难给自己贴上度假胜地的标签。现在，它是世界上最热门的旅行目的地之一。”