Marielle Franco’s Widow Mônica Benício on the 6th Anniversary of Marielle’s Assassination

Rio City Councilwoman Marielle Franco was assassinated in 2018 (Brazilian Government)

Mônica Benício is an inspiration.

After her wife, Rio City Councilwoman Marielle Franco was assassinated in 2018 by paramilitary gangs linked to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Mônica was elected to fill her seat on the Rio City Council.

Today marks the 6th anniversary of the murder of her wife, and I sat down with her office in Rio de Janeiro to discuss Marielle’s grief and how she continues to fight the good fight.

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About the Author

Mike Elk
Mike Elk is an Emmy-nominated labor reporter and alumni of the Guardian. In addition to filing nearly 2,000 stories from 46 states, Elk traveled with Lula from Sáo Bernando do Campos all the way to the Oval Office in the White House. Credited by the Washington Post for being the first reporter to track the strike wave systematically, Elk started Payday Report using his NLRB settlement from being illegally fired for union organizing in 2015. He lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and works frequently in Rio de Janeiro, where he attended college at PUC-Rio. He speaks both Portuguese and Pittsburghese fluently. His email is [email protected]