a blog by Peter Leonard
A Brazilian court has blocked the construction of a new Guggenheim museum in Rio de Janeiro. This looks like another chapter in the Brazilians' l0ve/hate relationship with America -- one of the reasons was that the contract between the city and the Guggenheim foundation was in Dollars and not Reais.
On one hand, the left-wing presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva may also have galvanized people to look towards fixing Rio's dramatic economic inequalities before adding another high-culture attraction.
On the other hand, when it comes to financial mismanagement, gross over-spending and general incompetence, the Guggenheim has quite a record of its own.
Let's throw in a vacation picture from my trip to Rio in 2001 just to make this relevant.