COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has compared Rio de Janeiro's journey to front runner in Friday's 2016 Olympic Games vote with his own remarkable rise from humble origins.
"Brazil has shed its complex of being considered a second rate citizen," Lula told a press conference here Thursday ahead of what promises to be a frantic 24 hours final lobbying to sway any remaining wavering IOC members.
"There was a time when we regarded ourselves as inferior, like in an election when voters would have regarded a working class man such as myself as uneducated and unprepared to win.
Here history is repeating itself.
"The Olympic Games generally goes to highly-developed countries, except China and Mexico in 1968," Lula said.
"What we want to show is that Brazil is the only country in the top ten that hasn"t had the Games.
"Brazil has much more self esteem today, the country is experiencing a magical moment - even in this global crisis Brazil is better situated than better developed countries."
Lula, just like his US counterpart Barack Obama with Chicago, has invested a huge amount of personal stock in Rio's 2016 bid and said Brazil had never been in a better position to host the Games.
"We are enjoying an exceptional economic period. The global crisis hit us last and we got out of it first.
"We created 240,000 new jobs last month - one million new jobs this year. We want to take advantage of our deep sea oil fields - Rio is ready from the point of view of infrastructure and the city is prepared in body and soul to organise these Games," he said.
The charismatic 63-year-old stressed that the Olympics were much more than a budget issue.
With the Games you have to open up your country to the rest of the world - to see Brazil like it truly is.
"You can't put a price on that, it's priceless, showing Rio's good and bad points, learning to correct the bad things.
"We still have much to do, but we will do it, we are changing the social reality of the poor living in slums - the recovery in our country is unquestionable.
"For other countries the Olympics is just another sporting event - for us it will be unique and extraordinary, a chance to build things that will last as a legacy for other generations."
Lula was asked for his reaction should Rio lose Friday's vote in which the South American city is said to be running neck and neck with Chicago with Tokyo and Madrid also in the hunt.
He replied: "I'm not working on the idea that we will be defeated, but I'll have no feeling of injustice if Rio loses because I love democracy.
"But the fact is no one has presented a project like ours.
"We want to show the world that it's not only in America that you can say "Yes we can" - we're saying "yes we can" organise these Olympic Games. - source
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I'm sure Brazil can! It's time for them to show that they are no longer a second-rate country.
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