Brazil: Nationwide anti-violence protests March 15

Event

A prominent city councilor in Rio de Janeiro, Marielle Franco, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in the Central Region of the city on the night of Wednesday, March 14. Police officials believe that Franco was specifically targeted and an investigation into the assassination is ongoing. Activists plan to hold a protest to denounce her murder in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, March 15. Demonstrators are expected to meet in front of the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly at 17:00 (local time) before marching to Cinelândia.

• São Paulo - 17:00 outside of the São Paulo Art Museum (Masp)
• Belo Horizonte - 17:30 at Praça da Estação
• Salvador - 10:00 at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA)
• Recife - 16:00 in front of the Câmara de Vereadores
• Natal - 17:00 in front of the PSOL building
• Fortaleza - 17:00 at the Praça Gentilândia
• Belém - 17:00 on Avenida Almirante Barroso
• Manaus - 17:00 on Largo de São Sebastião
• Brasília - 11:00 in front of the Annex II of the Câmaras dos Deputados (legislative building)
• Porto Alegre - 17:30 at Esquina Democrática (corner of Avenida Borges de Medeiros and Rua da Praia)
• Curitiba - 18:30 at Praça Santos Andrade
• Florianopolis - 17:00 at Esquina Feminista (corner of Deodoro and Conselheiro Mafra)

Context

Franco, a well-known human rights activist, was a member of the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party. She was elected to the city council in 2016 and was an outspoken critic of rising violence in Rio and the deployment of military forces to the state.

Rio de Janeiro has been suffering from rising violence since 2016. Almost 500 shootings occurred in January 2018 alone in the city. This phenomenon is largely attributed to fighting between heavily armed security forces and criminal gangs in Rio's favelas. On February 20, the Brazilian Senate approved a presidential decree granting the Brazilian Armed Forces special powers and control over law enforcement in the state of Rio.

Advice

Individuals in the abovementioned cities are advised to avoid all demonstrations as a precaution.

More generally, individuals in Brazil are advised to avoid any areas where security operations are taking place, to avoid all favelas more generally due to chronically high rates of violent crime, and to adhere to any instructions issued by security forces.