This Bridge to Nowhere Hints at Global Reach of Brazil Graft

On the lush savanna in the upper reaches of South America looms a $1.2 billion monument to the deepening troubles of Brazil.

Spanning the mighty Orinoco River in Venezuela, the Orinoquia Bridge stands as a rusting reminder of a not-long-ago time when a prosperous Brazil sometimes channeled taxpayer money to ambitious projects across the continent and beyond.

Today, few people use the bridge, which seems to connect nowhere to nowhere. The plaque marking its 2006 ribbon-cutting is gone, and a nearby picnic area is overgrown.

“Every day is a better day,” a government placard proclaims, with an optimism few Brazilians share in this season of economic and political anxiety.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-18/lula-s-bridge-to-nowhere-hints-at-global-reach-of-brazil-graft