Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is hitting back at critics of her country’s preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which begins in a week.  Rousseff insists the tournament will succeed, despite late stadiums and infrastructure as well as the threat of massive street protests.

Rousseff said demonstrators will be allowed to express their views, but it will be managed in a way “totally guarantee the security” of fans and also ensure that marches did not disrupt freedom of movement in Brazilian cities.

But transportation systems in the World Cup cities of Cuiaba, Salvador, Recife, and many others have not been finished.  Neither have some stadiums. 

“Everywhere in the world these big engineering projects always go down to the wire,” President Rousseff told foreign reporters in Brasilia.  “Nobody does a (subway) in two years,” she said, except for China and it’s top-down authoritarian government.  Delays in Brazil are, she said, “the cost of our democracy”.