Opinion

How Marielle Franco’s death is shaking up Brazilian politics

How Marielle Franco death is shaking up Brazilian politics
Demonstration to honor Marielle Franco. Photo: Gibran Mendes/Fotos Públicas

Though it would be safe to say that last week’s brutal murder of Rio de Janeiro’s city councilor Marielle Franco will certainly affect the Brazilian political scene, any tangible results will not be immediately felt. That being said, we have noticed three ways in which the incident is currently shaping public and political discourse.

The first concerns a fight over the crime’s narrative; the second is the impact Franco’s death might have over the federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro; and the third concerns how the case might affect the upcoming general elections.

The war of narratives

The mainstream media has generally agreed to label the episode as a politically-driven homicide – even if they are not opting to unequivocally state who might gain from Franco’s death. Reporters, news anchors, and pundits are claiming in unison that the primary suspects are members of Rio’s Police Department. However, the media is not asserting that definitively because investigations are still ongoing.

Brazil’s history of police brutality – not just in Rio de Janeiro, but across the country – as well as the fact that Marielle Franco was a human rights defender who consistently denounced abuse by police officers, especially in peripheral communities,...

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