Rio de Janeiro

Franco murder solved: Brazilian authorities say they’ve identified the masterminds behind the assassination of Rio city councilor

Marielle Franco, a prominent Black leftist and human rights activist whose 2018 murder shocked the nation. Though the gunman who killed her was arrested, the mystery of who hired him had gone unanswered for six years. This week, police arrested Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão, brothers who lead a powerful political clan long suspected of links to organized crime, accusing them of planning Franco’s murder because she was blocking their lucrative plans for Rio housing development. Rio’s former police chief Rivaldo Barbosa was also arrested, for allegedly sabotaging the murder investigation. All three suspects maintained their innocence. These arrests, Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said, reveal “how militias and organized crime” in Rio have permeated “some political bodies.”