With less than a week to go before the 2016 Rio Olympics begin, the Brazil Ministry of Justice terminated its contract with private security firm Artel, citing “incompetence and irresponsibility.” The Rio de Janeiro-based firm was meant to hire 3,400 security personnel, but admitted they had only hired 500, according to a Sky Sports News report.
The staff members were meant to be responsible for screening visitors outside each Olympic venue. X-ray machines and body searches are now going to be handled by local police forces, according to Yahoo News.
The local police have been called in to take up the slack, but they have been protesting against the government over the past few weeks due to not being paid. Police have been demonstrating at the Rio airport, sporting banners saying to tourists: “Welcome to Hell.”