I'm brazilian, I visited the museum in 2013, a year before the world cup. It was very memorable to me because it's essentially the only museum in Brazil that wa

I'm brazilian, I visited the museum in 2013, a year before the world cup. It was very memorable to me because it's essentially the only museum in Brazil that was an European style natural history museum (especially since there are so few museums in Brazil). I walked there, it's about half a mile from the Maracanã Stadium, as you can see on the picture here [1] (in portuguese). As I passed by the stadium, I distinctly remember large banners bragging that over 700 million reais were being spent to renew the stadium. That was about $300m at the time, a truly outlandish ammount in brazilian reality. I then visited the museum, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and took note of the fact that an entire wing was closed "for indeterminate time". I asked the staff and the reason was, obviously, budget cuts. I took another few years, just after the government secured reelection in 2015, that the government let the gravity of the fiscal situation surface, by which point there was no coming back from a 5-10 year long economic and political crisis that is still unfolding. With regards to the museum, it should be noted that it was operating on a reduced annual budget, receiving only 60% of the 550,000 reais (less than $150k) allocated funds from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro [2]. If these numbers sound like a pittance, it's because they are. I will not be surprised if this fire was started by something as simple as an electrical malfunction of an old circuit that should have been replaced decades ago. It really saddens me to see this news, that museum was something very unique for Brazil, but I'm not surprised. Brazil has been running on life support for two years now and I think the situation will continue worsening for a few more years. I was thinking the country would stave off becoming a second Venezuela, but the government and politicians seem set on running everything to the ground. I'm not holding my breath for our presidential elections, which are happening next month. I am sure that nothing other than sad words and perhaps some political opportunism will come out of this incident, and that no serious efforts will be done to learn from this situation and prevent similar ones from happening in the future. Unlike the US where there is serious inquiry and learning when bad things happen, the brazilian modus operandi in any such situation is to say "oh what a tragedy", turn a blind eye to root causes, and go on as usual. I am very glad I got out of Brazil to pursue graduate studies in the US, and I truly hope never to have to go back. [1] https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2018/09/02/museu-nacional-guarda-acervo-de-mais-de-20-milhoes-de-itens.ghtml https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2018/09/02/mu... [2] https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2018/09/02/museu-nacional-sofre-com-a-falta-de-reforma.ghtml https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2018/09/02/mu...