Rio mayor: State doing a 'terrible, horrible job' before
Olympics
Rio de Janeiro (CNN): A month before Rio welcomes thousands of
visitors for the 2016 Olympic Games, the city's mayor has lashed out at state
officials over the policing of violent crime.
"This is the most serious issue in Rio and the state is
doing a terrible, horrible job," Eduardo Paes told CNN, during an
interview in his downtown office.
"It's completely failing at its work of policing and
taking care of people."
His comments come after Rio de Janeiro state, which manages
the region's military police force, issued an executive order requesting
emergency funds from the federal government in order to pay outstanding bonuses
and overtime to police officers.
The 2.9 billion-real bailout (roughly $850 million) was made
available last week, after acting governor Francisco Dornelles said Games could
be a "big failure" without the funds. It's believed that the back pay
will be distributed this week.
The state's police officers vented their anger last week
with a sign saying "Welcome to Hell" outside Rio airport.
"Police and firefighters don't get paid, whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro
will not be safe," the sign said.
Spate of crime
Rio has been rocked by a spate of negative headlines in
recent weeks, including an Australian Paralympic athlete who was robbed at
gunpoint, reports of 20 armed men breaking into a municipal hospital to free a
drug kingpin, and a doctor killed by random gunfire on the main artery
connecting the airport to the city.
Several international TV crews, including two German
broadcasters, which had a truck with more than $400,000 worth of equipment
hijacked at gunpoint, have also been robbed.
The Justice Ministry said 85,000 additional officers,
including police from other states and military personnel, will be arriving to
the city in late July and patrolling throughout the Olympic and Paralympic
Games.
"(During the Games) the army, the navy, everyone is
going to be here," Paes said. "Fortunately the state will not be
responsible for security during that period." - Flora Charner/CNN
