Human rights groups are correct to say the Rio Olympic Games are a “huge missed opportunity” to improve the lives of the poorest in the city (Forced relocation and police crackdown: How Rio missed gold for human rights, Sport, 3 August). It is also a missed opportunity to invest in human rights protection across Brazil. Whilst roughly £3.8bn of taxpayers’ money is being spent on the Games, this money could be used to fund key social areas, such as health, education and indigenous rights, which are facing unprecedented cuts. On 9 August, during the Games, the UN World Indigenous Day will take place, at a time when Brazil’s indigenous peoples face the worst crisis for decades. Indigenous peoples are being murdered, criminalised, threatened, evicted from their land, and their rights to health and education are systematically violated. In 2014, there were 138 murders of indigenous people across Brazil, many linked to environmental and land conflict. After the Games close in Rio, we must increase our support of Brazil’s indigenous movement to protect their lives, rights and land.
Esther Gillingham
Brazil programme, Cafod
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• This letter was amended on 8 August 2016 to correct the figure for taxpayers’ money spent on the Games.
