Brazil’s gangsters have been getting into politics
They want friendly officials to help them launder money
At last, justice came. On October 31st two former policemen were sentenced to a combined 138 years in prison for murdering Marielle Franco, a councillor they killed in Rio de Janeiro in 2018. A gay black woman from a favela, Ms Franco was an icon of Brazil’s left. She had made it her mission to expose links between local politicians and militias in Rio. The assassination shocked a nation inured to violence. She may have been killed for denouncing attempts by militia members to seize public land illegally and build on it.
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This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “The political criminal”
From the November 16th 2024 edition
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