RIO DE JANEIRO, April 22 (UPI) -- The fallout from Easter weekend in Brazil includes massive traffic tie-ups, delayed flights, and worries about transportation when it hosts the World Cup soccer tournament in July.
Getaways at Easter are common for Brazilians in this heavily Catholic country, but the holiday brought 160 miles of gridlock in Sao Paulo, traffic jams in Salvador, bus delays in Rio de Janeiro, and 11 percent of the country’s flights delayed. These issues have prompted speculation Brazil is not equipped to handle the visit by Pope Francis in June or the World Cup, to be contrasted in several cities, in July. “For five years I’ve given up on visiting Ubatuba (a beach resort) because of traffic. Maybe with everyone home from work and school (during the World Cup), things will go better,” said Sergio Velasquez, 42, a financial analyst.