Remember the Olympic torch relay before the Beijing games in 2008? All across the world, the torch was attacked by people protesting against China human rights record, especially in Tibet. The torch was relayed all the way to Beijing secured in a ring of armed guards.
The security around the Olympic torch is not as tight as it was in 2008 and the torch hardly faced any protest around the world. But at home, the Olympic torch is having a tough time. On Wednesday, in the middle of a run, a torchbearer suddenly stopped on a road in the port area of Rio, lowered his pants and exposed a slogan written on his bare buttocks. It read “Fora Temer” (Temer, out), asking the country’s interim president to quit. As the police twisted his arms and tried to snatch the torch from his, the crowd at the spot applauded the man, a musician, and started shouting “Fora Temer, Fora Temer.”
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The Olympic torch has become a big headache for the games organisers who had signed an agreement with all torch runners that they would not do any kind of political demonstrations while relaying the torch. But in the past three months, that pact has been broken by many Brazilians who are upset with the interim government led by Temer. In the southern part of Brazil, a torchbearer even ran away with it and the police had a tough time in recovering the Olympic symbol.
