Olympic Games securityBrazil lends $895 million to Rio de Janeiro for Olympics security

Brazil’s government has loaned 2.9 billion reais ($895 million) to the state of Rio de Janeiro to cover some of the security costs of the Olympic Games, which open on 5 August. The state of Rio de Janeiro last week declared a state of fiscal emergency.

CNN reports that the president of Brazil signed off on the emergency loan, and that it was published on Thursday in the government’s Official Gazette. Government officials said the loan was meant to guarantee safety and security at the Olympic Games. As many as half a million foreign visitors are expected to arrive in Rio during the state’s worst financial crisis in decades.

Some of the money will be used to complete a subway line connecting the city center to Olympic venues in the neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca.

Brazil is in the midst of the worst economic recession since the 1930s, which, among other things, has led to a growing wave of street crimes.

It was not supposed to be like this: These are the first Olympic Games to be held in South America, and when, ten years ago, Brazil was selected to host them it was viewed as a rising global power. Now, however, the games will be held against the backdrop of a deepening recession; spreading political scandals which have already led to the suspension of president Dilma Rousseff; and an outbreak of the Zika virus.

There are serious doubts about whether all the infrastructure work for the games will be finished in time. The unfinished subway line is now expected to be finished days before the opening of the games, but the stations along the lines will not be completed in time.