RIO DE JANEIRO — Mayor Eduardo Paes sought to rally confidence in the city's ability to smoothly carry out the Olympic Games less than 50 days away after the state government of his ally Francisco Dornelles declared "public calamity" over the state's finances last week in order to ease up additional funds for Olympic works.
The governor wrote in his declaration that authorities would need to take "exceptional measures" in order to "honor its commitments to carry out the Olympic Games" and that "any institutional instability could mean a risk to the image of the country that would be difficult to recuperate.