Summary Not even thunderstorm could dampen ardor of 72,000 crowd that packed Sambodrome Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Rio s carnival showed no sign of flagging on its fourth day of festivities Monday, with one final, dazzling procession planned by its famed samba schools.
Not even a thunderstorm could dampen the ardor of the 72,000 crowd that packed the Oscar Niemeyer-designed Sambodrome in downtown Rio for Sunday s parade by the first six schools looking to succeed Unidos de Tijuca as grand champions.
Festivities will go into extra-time this year as they flow into those marking Rio s 450th birthday on March 1.
But as the city parties its heart out, a sour note was struck as questions were raised over the finances of a top samba school.
Six remaining elite samba schools are due to rock the Sambodrome foundations into the early hours of Tuesday, when some 30,000 participants will sashay down the 720-meter (yard) Sapucai Avenue piste.
But the media have in recent days called into question the financing of one school, Beija-Flor, amid a report by O Globo daily that the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema had bankrolled the club to the tune of $5 million.
The press service for Beija-flor, whose theme this year is a "strong, joyful and colored" Africa, told AFP that they had received merely "cultural support and imported fabrics" from Equatorial Guinea.
Nguema -- who, along with his son, is facing allegations of money laundering and corruption -- holds an iron grip over tiny, oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in central Africa.
Globo reported that his son Teodorin on Sunday night had reserved the seven most expensive suites at the plush Copacabana Palace hotel, where he attended a ball, "unsmiling ... and surrounded by his security detail."
Imperatriz Leopoldinense is another samba school with an African theme.
Adding to the hedonistic atmosphere, carnal matters were on the menu of Mocidade Independente school s offering Sunday with around 50 dancers barely covering their modesty simulating sex, be it of the heterosexual or homosexual variety, in couples or in groups.
The group, whose gigantic float resembled a love hotel, asked rhetorically: "What would you do if the world was about to end and you only had one day to live? Shopping, gymnastics or make frantic love for 24 hours?"
The winners of the elite group crown will be unveiled Wednesday, by which time the official carnival will be over, although street parties which started some three weeks beforehand will continue.
