6 years after the brutal murder of the socialist councilor, the STF ordered the arrest this Sunday (24/03) of Domingos Brazão, advisor to the Court of Auditors of RJ, Chiquinho Brazão, federal deputy (União Brasil – RJ), and the former Chief of Police at the time of the murder, Rivaldo Barbosa. Revelation shows the relations between the State and militias in Rio de Janeiro to exploit the working people.
Essay
BRAZIL – This Sunday morning (24/03), the Federal Police carried out an operation to arrest those accused of having ordered the murder of PSOL councilor Marielle Franco. Among those involved there is a federal deputy, an advisor to the state Court of Auditors and the former head of the Civil Police.
The murder of Marielle and her driver Anderson Gomes took place on March 14, 2018 and was carried out by a gang of militiamen specialized in killing. Until today, the perpetrators were not known, nor was the motivation. What enabled the Federal Police to present answers was the denunciation of Ronnie Lessa, the assassin who organized the operation to kill the socialist councilor.
Lessa’s statement and the evidence collected so far pointed to the brothers Chiquinho and Domingos Brazão as the masterminds. The two would have been protected by Rivaldo Barbosa, police chief at the time of the murder. Barbosa was appointed to the Civil Police 7 days before the murder by Walter Braga Netto, then intervening in public security in Rio de Janeiro.
The motivation for the brutal crime was Marielle’s opposition and fight in defense of popular housing for the working people of Rio. The councilwoman was opposed to the militias’ control of the real estate market in the West and North Zones of Rio and fought against bills which increased the power of the militia in real estate speculation.
The revelation of the masterminds is further proof of the involvement of the fascists and the centrão with the militias in Rio de Janeiro. A police chief, a deputy and a TCE counselor being arrested for ordering militiamen to murder a councilor who fought for working people is a demonstration of how so-called “organized crime” is in reality part of the political power of the State today in RJ.
Who is the Brazão family?
Suspicions against the Brazão brothers had already been circulating in some media since at least 2019. But it was at the end of 2023, when the PF entered the case, that their relationship with the murder became more evident.
The Brazão family is well known in the state of Rio. Composed of several politicians, it has electoral strength in several neighborhoods in the West Zone and North Zone of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, mainly the Jacarepaguá region, since the 1990s. Linked to the gas station sector , the relations between these right-wing politicians and the militia have been known for at least 16 years, when the two brothers were mentioned in the CPI on Militias, carried out by the Legislative Assembly of Rio.
Since then, Domingos was elected in 2014 as a state deputy and in 2017 he was chosen by ALERJ for the State Court of Auditors. Chiquinho Brazão spent all this time in the Rio City Council and, in 2018, was elected federal deputy. All of these re-elections were probably achieved with the support of militia groups.
Why did they kill Marielle?
The Brazãos have also always been very interested in the real estate sector in the West Zone of the capital of Rio de Janeiro. Companies that operate in this area of the city are completely controlled or need approval from the militias to operate. All constructions are carried out in accordance with the interests of the militia leaders and their political allies.
This is the background that motivated Marielle’s murder, according to investigations. As a councilor, Marielle Franco faced the interests of these criminal groups who wanted to profit from the allocation of public funds to the militia’s real estate projects. She defended that the West Zone had affordable housing for the poor and that the occupation process was monitored by the Public Defender’s Office and state bodies.
Marielle’s murder would therefore be a message to anyone who wanted to oppose the model of exploitation imposed by the militias.
The Brazão were allies of Bolsonaro
The Brazão family is also a well-known ally of Bolsonaro. Flávio Bolsonaro’s real estate business in the West Zone of Rio is well known. Ronnie Lessa, the murderer, was a mutual friend of both families and lived in the same condominium as Jair Bolsonaro, in Barra da Tijuca.
In the political system imposed by the militia and fascist and right-wing politicians in Rio, the Bolsonaro and Brazão have always been allies. After all, they, along with several right-wing politicians from RJ, owed their reelections to the support of the militias, in return they approved projects to favor the militia members and protected them in the event of investigations. In 2022, Chiquinho Brazão campaigned alongside Flávio Bolsonaro in several neighborhoods in the West Zone of Rio.
Civil Police helped cover up the crime
7 days before the murder, the then intervener Walter Braga Netto, who was later a candidate for vice president on Bolsonaro’s ticket in 2022, appointed Rivaldo Barbosa to head the RJ Civil Police. Throughout 2018, the state of RJ was under military intervention ordered by coup president Michel Temer (MDB).
In March, the military already occupied the main positions in public security and began to place their acquaintances and allies in police leadership. Braga Netto insisted that Rivaldo Barbosa take over as head of the Civil Police anyway, even though the PCRJ intelligence sector was against the appointment. Barbosa was appointed 7 days earlier and took office the day before the murder.
Revelation of the masterminds is the result of years of struggle for justice
The revelation of who ordered Marielle’s death and the motivation was only possible due to the 6 years of struggle by family members, fellow fighters and various political and social organizations who never stopped demanding justice for the brutal murder. Even with all the actions of State agents to sabotage the investigations and the militia offensive, which gained strength with the fascist Bolsonaro government, the fight for justice for Marielle and Anderson managed to ensure that the possibility of finding the warrants was not lost.
Marielle’s political execution was motivated by one of the most important struggles currently underway in Rio de Janeiro and in the country, the fight against real estate speculation and the defense of the right to decent housing. It is the imposition of a reality of exploitation that takes away from the working class the right to have a roof over their heads and a decent place to live that enables the political and economic dominance of the militias. And it was these militias, together with their political leaders, who ordered Marielle to be killed.
The elucidation of the murder of Marielle and Anderson raises the need to fight against fascist and bourgeois groups that use political positions to defend their interests and the exploitation of workers. The relations between police, government and militias are known, however, the bourgeois State does nothing to put an end to it. This is because it is in the interests of the ruling classes to impose this political and economic control over people’s lives imposed by so-called militiamen and drug traffickers, which generates billions in profits every year.
