Development: On 9 April, Brazilian police began investigating the killing of political advisor Carlos Alexandre Pereira Maria, after his boss gave evidence about the presumed assassination of Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco last month.
Significance: Political violence tends to peak before a general election. But the killings of Franco and Pereira in such quick succession have rung alarm bells in Brazil. One theory under investigation is that militias may be behind both killings. Such incidents have once again called the efficacy of the government’s federal security intervention in Rio de Janeiro state into question.
- Pereira’s body was found riddled with multiple gun wounds in an abandoned car on the Estrada Curumau, Taquara neighbourhood. The crime scene is in the Jacarepaguá municipality, to the west of Rio de Janeiro city, where militias hold sway.
- Like Franco, Pereira was also a community leader. Before his death, he had been working for another city councillor, Marcello Siliciano from the Partido Humanista de Solidariedade (PHS). Siciliano had recently testified before authorities about Franco’s death because he spoke to her before she was shot, according to investigative journalism site The Intercept.
- Pereira may also have been privy to some information about Franco. According to local news site Globo Extra, one of his killers shouted it was necessary to “shut his mouth” before shooting him. This could be seen as an attempt to bury the evidence.
- Police are also investigating the theory that local militias could be responsible for killing Franco, along with her driver Anderson Gomes. She had been a critic of local police and especially the alleged ties between corrupt officers and militias.
- The investigation into what happened to Franco is still under the seal of secrecy, but following a series of demonstrations asking 'who killed Marielle', the authorities are under pressure to make swift progress.
- Under Brazil’s constitution, investigations should be carried out by the civil police and the federal public ministry, but the final verdict rests with Rio de Janeiro state’s judiciary. The federal public security minister, Raul Jungmann, also ordered federal police to help.
Looking Ahead: Faced with a backlash about the federal security intervention, President Michel Temer insists his security plan is “working”. As evidence, Temer pointed to the arrests of 149 militia members on 7 April.
