Dilma Rousseff walked onto the field of Itaquera stadium, host of this year’s World Cup opener in Sao Paulo, and shook hands with the construction crew of Odebrecht SA, Latin America’s biggest builder. They gave the Brazilian president a metallic-gold hard hat and huddled around as a worker shot a group selfie.
A banner emblazoned with the company’s logo next to the words “mission accomplished” slung from the stands, even as cranes towered overhead and the wind blew back tarps hiding pockets of unfinished construction. With kickoff just weeks away, Odebrecht was hurrying to complete the arena after cost overruns and the death of two of its workers.
