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Marielle Franco

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Marielle Franco
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Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro Councillor
In office
1 January 2017 – 14 March 2018
Personal details
Born
Marielle Francisco da Silva

(1979-07-27)27 July 1979
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died14 March 2018(2018-03-14) (aged 38)
Rio de Janeiro
Manner of deathAssassination
Political partySocialism and Liberty Party
Alma materPontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Fluminense Federal University
OccupationPolitician, sociologist

Marielle Francisco da Silva, known as Marielle Franco, (27 July 1979 – 14 March 2018) was a Brazilian politician, feminist, and human rights activist. She served as a city councillor of the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro for the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) from January 2017 until her assassination on 14 March 2018.

She had been an outspoken critic of police brutality and extrajudicial killings,[1] as well as the recent federal intervention in 16 February[2] by Brazilian president Michel Temer in the state of Rio de Janeiro which resulted in the deployment of the army in police operations.[3][4]

Personal life and education

Franco was raised in Maré, a slum in northern Rio de Janeiro, where she also resided for most of her life.[5] Franco identified as part of the LGBT community,[6][7] and in 2017, she moved to the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Tijuca with her partner, Mônica Benício, and her daughter, Luyara Santos.[8]

In 1998, Franco gave birth to her first and only child.[9][10] In 2000, she began her pre-university studies.[11] Franco raised her daughter without the father's help and worked as a pre-school teacher making minimum wage.[11][12] Following the death of a friend from a stray bullet in 2000, Franco began working in human rights activism.[9][10]

In 2002, she entered the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro on a scholarship and continued working and raising her daughter as she earned a degree in social sciences.[10][12] She went on to earn a master's degree in public administration from the Fluminense Federal University.[13] She wrote her master's thesis (titled "UPP: The Decline of the Favela in Three Letters") on the law enforcement program to retake control of the city's favelas from gangs.[14]

Political career

Before running for city council, Franco worked for state representative Marcelo Freixo as a consultant and helped coordinate the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and Citizenship on the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (ALERJ).[14] In her bid for a seat on the Rio de Janeiro city council in the 2016 municipal elections, Franco received 46,500 votes.[15] She received the fifth most votes out of more than 1,500 candidates and was one of 51 people elected.[16]

As a city council member, Franco chaired the Women's Defense Commission and formed part of a four-person committee that monitored the federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro.[17][18] Working with the Rio de Janeiro Lesbian Front, Franco presented a bill to create a day of lesbian visibility in Rio de Janeiro in August 2017, but the bill was defeated by a vote of 19-17.[19]

Assassination

Marielle Franco, on 13 March wrote in one of her last writings on Twitter a message against the police violence taking place in Rio: “Another homicide of a young man that could be credited to the police. Matheus Melo was leaving church when he was killed. How many others will have to die for this war to end?”[20]

Demonstration held in Vitória to honor the memory of Marielle Franco and Anderson Pedro Gomes.

The next day in downtown Rio on 14 March 2018, Marielle Franco attended a round-table discussion titled, "Black Women Moving the Structures" (Jovens Negras Movendo Estruturas).[21] Less than two hours later after leaving the round-table she and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes, were fatally shot by two men in another car. They fired nine shots at them. Marcelo Freixo, a Rio legislative assembly member from PSOL who came to the scene shortly after hearing of her killing, found the bullets to be directed at her in a clear execution. Her press officer was in the backseat and survived with injuries. [20][22][20] The bullets that killed her were bought by the federal police in Brasilia in 2006 and were stolen from a post office.[23] [24]

Thousands took to the streets in coordinated protests across Brazil, and both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned her killing.[25][20]

References

  1. ^ "Brazil: Authorities must investigate the killing of human rights defender Marielle Franco". Amnesty International. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ Lessing, Benjamin (2 March 2018). "Brazil's federal intervention in Rio's drug wars has an authoritarian feel — and could backfire". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  3. ^ "Outrage over murder of Rio councillor". BBC News. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  4. ^ Langlois, Jill (2018-03-15). "Outspoken Rio councilwoman who fought for the marginalized is shot to death; thousands mourn". latimes.com. Retrieved 2018-03-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. ^ "Anger in Brazil after prominent police critic is shot dead - France 24". France 24. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  6. ^ "Os últimos momentos de Marielle Franco antes de ser morta com quatro tiros na cabeça".
  7. ^ Minas, Estado de (15 March 2018). "Morte de Marielle atinge democracia brasileira, diz Lula".
  8. ^ "Marielle, 'cria' do Parque Esperança" (in Portuguese). O Dia. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  9. ^ a b Marco Aurélio Canônico (15 March 2018). "Da Maré, vereadora fazia parte do 'bonde de intelectuais da favela'" (in Portuguese). Folha de S.Paulo. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  10. ^ a b c Júlia Dias Carneiro (16 March 2018). "Mulher, negra, favelada, Marielle Franco foi de 'cria da Maré' a símbolo de novas lutas políticas no Rio" (in Portuguese). BBC. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Entrevistamos Marielle Franco: mulher, negra, periférica e Vereadora do RJ - Mulheres na Política #1". Redação Subjetiva. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  12. ^ a b Anna Jean Kaiser (30 September 2016). "A Favela-Born Political Up-and-Comer in Brazil". Ozy. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  13. ^ "Da Maré, Marielle Franco chega à Câmara como a quinta mais votada" (in Portuguese). O Globo. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  14. ^ a b Marie Declercq translated by Meredith Balkus (15 March 2018). "Marielle Franco, Activist Against Brazil's Police Brutality, Assassinated in Rio". Vice. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  15. ^ Brad Brooks (15 March 2018). "Thousands march in Brazil after murder of activist councilwoman". Reuters. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  16. ^ Glenn Greenwald (16 March 2018). "Marielle Franco: Why my friend was a repository of hope and a voice for Brazil's voiceless, before her devastating assassination". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  17. ^ "Negra da Maré e socióloga, Marielle foi a 5ª vereadora mais votada do Rio" (in Portuguese). G1. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  18. ^ Felipe Betim (16 March 2018). "Assassinato político de Marielle Franco reativa as ruas e desafia intervenção no Rio". El País. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  19. ^ Camila Marins (18 August 2017). "Câmara do Rio de Janeiro rejeita projeto pela visibilidade lésbica". Brasil de Fato. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  20. ^ a b c d Phillips, Dom (2018-03-15). "Protests held across Brazil after Rio councillor shot dead". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  21. ^ Gragnani, Juliana (15 March 2018). "Marielle era uma das 32 mulheres negras entre 811 vereadores eleitos em capitais brasileiras". BBC. Retrieved 18 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  22. ^ Associated Press (2018-03-15). "Marielle Franco, councillor and police critic, shot dead in targeted killing in Rio". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  23. ^ Phillips, Dom (17 March 2018). "Marielle Franco: Brazil's favelas mourn the death of a champion". The Guardian. Retrieved March 18, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  24. ^ Canofre, Fernanda (16 March 2018). "Suspicious Murder of Anti-Police Brutality Activist Sparks Large Protests In Brazil". Mint Press News. Retrieved 18 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  25. ^ "Atos de protesto por Marielle Franco estão marcados em mais de 10 capitais". Justificando (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
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