Former Brazilian President Lula: It's Clear Marielle Franco's Assassination Was Premeditated
Published on
Monday, March 19, 2018
byDemocracy Now!
Former Brazilian President Lula: It's Clear Marielle Franco's Assassination Was Premeditated
The 38-year-old Rio de Janeiro city councilmember and human rights activist—known for her fierce criticism of police killings in Brazil's impoverished favela neighborhoods—was killed last week
byDemocracy Now!
In a Democracy Now! exclusive, we spend the hour with Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is now running for president again. We begin our discussion with the assassination of 38-year-old Rio city councilmember and human rights activist Marielle Franco, who was killed last week. Franco, who was a black lesbian, was known for her fierce criticism of police killings in Brazil’s impoverished favela neighborhoods. Her death comes at a pivotal moment for Brazil and the future of democracy in South America’s largest country. Just last month, President Michel Temer ordered Brazil’s military to assume control of police duties in Rio. “The only thing that she did was to work against the assassination of black people in the peripheral areas in the defense of human rights,” says Lula da Silva.
Transcript
AMY GOODMAN: Brazilians continue to mourn the loss of 38-year-old Rio de Janeiro city councilmember and human rights activist Marielle Franco. Franco was assassinated, along with her driver, last Wednesday night, after a pair of gunmen riddled her car with bullets as she returned from an event on the topic of empowering black women. Franco, who was a black lesbian, was known for her fierce criticism of police killings in Brazil’s impoverished favela neighborhoods. The night before her death, Franco wrote on Twitter, “How many more must die for this war to end?” In January alone, government figures show police killed 154 people in Rio state.
Franco’s death comes at a pivotal moment for Brazil and the future of democracy in South America’s largest country. Just last month, President Michel Temer ordered Brazil’s military to assume control of police duties in Rio. Two years ago, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers’ Party was impeached by the Brazilian Senate, in a move she denounced as a coup. Brazil is holding elections later this year. The front-runner is Rousseff’s ally, former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula. While he’s leading all opinion polls, he’s facing a possible prison sentence, after being convicted on what many believe to be trumped-up charges of corruption and money laundering.
Last year, President Rousseff said, quote, “The first chapter of the coup was my impeachment. But there’s a second chapter, and that is stopping President Lula from becoming a candidate for next year’s elections,” Rousseff said. British human rights attorney Geoffrey Robertson told the New Internationalist that, quote, “extraordinarily aggressive measures” are being taken to put Lula in jail, quote, “by the judiciary, by the media, by the great sinews of wealth and power in Brazil,” unquote.
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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/19/former-brazilian-president-lula-its-clear-marielle-francos-assassination-was
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