Brazil crisis rebound seen helping Rio Olympic bid

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's resilience to the global financial crisis has boosted Rio de Janeiro's bid to host the 2016 Olympics, the city's mayor said on Tuesday.

The beachside city of Bossa Nova and Carnival has claims to be the most picturesque and romantic choice when it goes up against Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo in the final International Olympic Committee vote in Copenhagen on Oct. 2.

Mayor Eduardo Paes told Reuters in an interview that Rio also has the most "realistic" bid, and that Brazil's quick rebound from recession this year demonstrated the Latin American giant's rise to economic respectability.

"I think the reaction of Brazil to the crisis, the control of markets, and the strength of the Brazilian economy has had a positive impact" on Rio's candidacy, Paes said.

"It's a country that is economically strong, powerful, and that is growing."

While the United States, Japan, and Spain were hit hard by the crisis, Brazil got off relatively lightly and has rebounded this year after slipping into a brief recession.

Rio, among the final four cities for the first time after two failed attempts, is seen as having a good chance of winning one of the most open races in years. Its bid has emphasized Rio's colorful culture, the experience and infrastructure it will gain from Brazil hosting the World Cup in 2014, and the appeal of staging the first Olympics in South America.

But it is the least prepared in terms of infrastructure and sports venues, with only 29 percent of the facilities demanded by the IOC in place and another 24 percent needing modernization. It also faces concerns over a high crime rate and the pollution that affects some lakes and Guanabara Bay overlooked by the famous Sugarloaf mountain.

The city's transport system alone needs a $5 billion upgrade to be ready for the Olympics, organizers say. In total, the Games would cost about $15 billion, they say.

LULA FACTOR

Paes, a 39-year-old who was elected late last year, said that unlike in its wealthy rival cities, Rio could be transformed by the investments the Games would bring.

But he said most of the upgrades to the city's infrastructure were planned anyway, reducing the chances of major cost overruns. Memories here are fresh of the 2007 Pan-American Games that Rio hosted successfully but which cost four times the original budget.

"The total (of Rio's Olympic budget) is this because we included absolutely everything that affects the Games ... in this respect, Rio's proposal is the most realistic of all," he said.

Rio's bid can also count on the presence of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Copenhagen to sway crucial last-minute support. U.S. President Barack Obama may attend in support of Chicago's bid.

"He is the face of a stronger Brazil that has confronted the economic crisis very well ... of a world organization that no longer sees rich countries taking all the decisions," Paes said of Lula, a hugely popular former union leader.

Paes, who has waged a campaign to bring order to Rio's often chaotic streets since his election, acknowledged that security was a problem that Rio needed to tackle, but said it would not affect a one-off event like the Olympics.

Hundreds of slums in Rio are controlled by heavily armed drug traffickers, many within a stone's throw of tourist areas such as Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.

Thousands of federal police were drafted in to secure the city during the Pan-American Games.

"For the Olympics I don't have any doubt that these difficulties that Rio has, which we don't hide, will be easily overcome," Paes said.