Brazilian police protesting unpaid salaries with just one month to go before the Olympics surprised arriving travellers at Rio de Janeiro's main airport Monday with banners reading "Welcome to Hell." The protest by more than 100 emergency services workers, including fire-fighters, took place in the arrival hall at Galeao International Airport, which will be a key entry point for the expected half million tourists to the Games starting August 5.
Officers held up a banner reading: "Welcome to hell. Police and fire-fighters don't get paid, whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe."
Mannequins dressed in uniform were laid out on the floor to represent the more than 50 officers killed in Rio de Janeiro so far this year. A female officer with fake blood smeared on her face and hands clutched a mannequin dressed in a T-shirt reading "SOS policia."
Rio police began staging street protests, including another at the airport, last week, saying that they have not been fully paid for months as Rio state hovers on the edge of bankruptcy.