Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg
Elections
Where Gangs Pick the Politicians, a Murder in Rio Ignites a People’s Revolt
A 38-year-old black, bisexual woman won a seat on Rio’s city council and fought for the favelas. Her assassination sparked a movement that will be tested in Brazil’s October elections.
At a long table under a broken clock, Renata Souza struggles to summon her voice. The hall is jam-packed and all eyes are on her.
When Souza was last here, in 2016, to help Marielle Franco run for the Rio de Janeiro city council, the clock stood at the same time, yet so much has transpired. Marielle, whose unexpected victory and fearless — even incautious — attacks on the corrupt powers running slums like hers, was dead. Not just dead; a 38-year-old black, bisexual mother, Marielle was snuffed out in a drive-by assassination in March, triggering outrage across the globe and the stirrings of a political wave here.