The poor in Rio are paying a terrible price as their city smartens up its image to host the Olympics It’s being billed as the biggest sporting event on the planet, with 10,500 athletes from 206 countries. Hosting the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America this summer is a matter of huge pride for Rio de Janeiro – and, of course, expense. Copacabana Beach will be the spectacular setting for beach rugby and volleyball, but look more closely at the dramatic landscape of beaches with their backdrop of mountains, and you find a mosaic of poor communities, or favelas, clinging precariously to the mountainsides or dotted around the city, often alongside luxurious residences. Rio’s history is in part the history of the poor communities’ fight for survival aga