Americas press review

In the spotlight: in Brazil, a PT activist assassinated by a pro-Bolsonaro

PT President Gleisi Hoffmann came to pay tribute to Marcelo Arruda during the funeral wake on July 10, 2022 in Foz do Iguacu.

© AFP/Christian Rizzi

Text by: Achim Lippold Follow

4 mins

Advertising

Read more

In Brazil, an activist of the Workers' Party, the party of presidential candidate Lula Inacio da Silva, was killed by a sympathizer of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro who is also seeking the presidency.

It happened in the south of the country, in Foz do Iguaçu.

Marcelo Arruda was celebrating his 50th birthday with his party comrades when a prison guard burst in with a weapon.

He claimed he would come back to kill everyone, according to testimonies collected by

Carta Capital

.

Surveillance video showing the scene was released by the

G1

news site .

Jorge Guaranho kept his word, he actually came back a little later, took out his gun and opened fire on Marcelo Arruda.

In the meantime, the latter has also been able to obtain a weapon with which he also shoots his attacker before succumbing to his injuries.

The pro-Bolsonaro activist was hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

Fear of political violence

According to local authorities quoted by G1, the motive for the murder is probably political.

When he first showed up, the suspected killer shouted pro-Bolsonaro slogans.

According to the

Folha de São Paulo

newspaper , the presidential campaign, which has not yet officially started, is already very tense.

There is a risk that these isolated acts will multiply, writes

Folha de São Paulo

.

The daily notes that President Bolsonaro did not call for calm.

He certainly condemned all violence, but added that the perpetrators of violence are generally to be found among leftist sympathizers.

It should be remembered that the far-right president has since coming to power facilitated access to arms in Brazil.

This weekend, hundreds of people demonstrated in Brasília to claim the right to obtain it.

First

 anniversary of anti-government protests in Cuba

A year ago, in Cuba, on July 11, 2021, Cubans took to the streets en masse to protest against the economic situation and for more political freedoms, unheard of in six decades.

The official Cuban press reports on these events.

The Granma

newspaper

quotes Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel as admitting that the economic and social situation is " 

complex

 ", but that the country will pull through despite a "

 blockade

 " greater than that of the 1960s or 1970s. demonstrations of July 11, the Cuban president once again asserts that these rallies were orchestrated by " 

enemies of the revolution

 ".

For him, the first anniversary of the demonstrations is rather an occasion to celebrate “

 the victory of the Cuban people over imperialism 

.

In the press close to the opposition, the tone is different.

The news site

14ymedio

tells us that the famous opponent Guillermo Farinas was arrested last Friday, according to information disclosed by his daughter.

An arrest which, according to 14ymedio, is not a coincidence three days before the anniversary of the anti-regime demonstrations.

The online newspaper specifies that Guillermo Farinas has just written a report, with other opponents, on police violence during the repression of the demonstrations, violence which cost the life of a 17-year-old, Zinadine Zidan Batista Alvarez.

Canada apologizes for treatment of black soldiers during WWI

In Canada, the

mea culpa

of the government: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized to the descendants of African-Canadian soldiers

.

It was this weekend at a ceremony in Nova Scotia.

The head of government addressed the descendants of the 2nd Construction Battalion,

"Canada's only all-black unit that served during the First World War",

writes

Le Devoir

.

Volunteers turned away because of their skin color

According to the newspaper, the 600 soldiers of this battalion were victims of racism.

They had volunteered to fight on the front in Europe, but their applications were refused because of their skin color

.

The soldiers "

 were not wanted in what was considered a white man's war 

,

"

writes

Le Devoir

.

Eventually they were allowed to join the front, but only as a non-combat battalion.

They never had the same support and the same opportunities as their white comrades, 

" said Justin Trudeau, also acknowledging that upon their return, "

 the members of the 2nd Construction Battalion never received the welcome as heroes they deserved

 .

According to

Le Devoir

, many descendants of these soldiers are satisfied with these apologies, which will make the history of their ancestors better known.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Brazil

  • Jair Bolsonaro

  • Newspaper

  • Americas press review