We were convinced that the Rio Olympics would show everyone that Brazil was a country worthy of respect. Instead we have been humiliated.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was proud of and pleased with his country (and himself) when he addressed the International Olympic Committee in 2009. "The Olympic games will be unforgettable," he said, "because they will be filled with the passion, happiness, and creativity of the Brazilian people." The Olympics—Lula's Olympics—offered Brazil a chance to star on the world stage, and to prove it was prepared to play the part.

The year was 2009. At the time, I, like so many other Brazilians, witnessed an important, historic moment for our country: Brazil had won the bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic games of 2016. After three failed attempts to host the games (1936, 2004, and 2012), the bid delegation went to Copenhagen resolute to make its case to the International Olympic Committee. One by one, athletes (soccer player Pelé!) and government officials (Rio governor Sergio Cabral and mayor Eduardo Paes) assured the Committee that Brazil was ready. The delegation's most important member, however, was Lula, the then-president, who delivered an emotional speech to the Committee.

Lula, carrying with him the hopes and dreams of more than 190 million Brazilians, urged the committee to acknowledge that it was our time. For Brazil, and for Latin America as a whole, hosting the games was an unprecedented opportunity. Of all the finalist countries bidding for the games (U.S., Spain, Japan, and Brazil) that year, Brazil was the only one that had never hosted