RIO DE JANEIRO — A new poll says nearly two out of three Brazilians believe that hosting the Summer Games will cause the country more harm than good.
Half of the people surveyed by Datafolha pollster oppose the Olympics.
The popularity of the sporting event has dropped dramatically as Brazil weathers its worst recession, and unemployment and inflation shoot up. Rio de Janeiro state's acting governor declared a state of financial disaster in June so officials could manage shrinking resources during the Olympics without breaking fiscal laws.
More than half of Brazilians think that the city's security problems are a cause of shame. Rio's murder and robbery rates have gone up this year.
Datafolha interviewed 2,792 people between July 14 and 15 in 171 cities. The margin of error was 2 percentage points.