Marcos de Barros Leopoldo Guerra (ca. 1963 – December 23, 2014), was a

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian blogger known for his blog ''Ubatuba Cobra, located'' in

Ubatuba Ubatuba is a Brazilian municipality, located on the southeast coast, in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 92,819 (2021 est.) in an area of 723.88 km², of whi ...

. Guerra was known for his denunciation of corrupt politicians in Ubatuba and nearby

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. He died after being shot by two men in his home in Ubatuba. Guerra had been receiving death threats in response to the political content of his blog prior to his murder.

Personal

Guerra, 51 years old at the time of his murder, was born around 1963. He resided at Rua Santa Genoveva in the Praia do Tenório (Translated: Tenório Beach) neighborhood of Ubatuba, Brazil. He was single and lived with his 85-year-old father, who discovered his son's dead body. His funeral was on December 24, 2014.

Career

Guerra was a lawyer and journalist known for his blog, Ubatuba Cobra. He used his blog to investigate and criticize the corrupt actions of politicians in his home city of Ubatuba as well as nearby São Paulo. His posts on the misappropriation of funds by local administrators received negative attention which culminated in death threats being sent to Guerra.

Death

According to his father, Guerra received a series of death threats relating to the political content of his blog. Guerra was killed in his home not long after. His neighbors reported that two men shot Guerra from outside of the house, through the window to his kitchen, where he was standing. Guerra suffered three wounds in the head, back, and torso and died where he stood. His father, who had been in another room of the house, heard the shots and the sound of a motorcycle driving away.

Context

One of Guerra's final blog posts indicated that the Munincipal Tourism Council of Ubatuba had not been performing proper bookkeeping.

Impact

Despite the passing of the "Marco Municipal da Internet" earlier in 2014, which legally guaranteed freedom of expression and consumption for Internet users in Brazil, Guerra was just one of three Brazilian journalists to be killed in retaliation for their work in 2014. Camera-man Santiago Ildio Andrade and Pedro Palma, owner of the weekly ''Surroundings Regional'' newspaper were both murdered in February of that year. Violence against journalists continued in 2015 with the deaths of Gleydson Carvalo, Evany José Metzker, and Djalma Santo da Conceição, who were each also shot and killed in the Brazilian state of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

Reactions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerra, Marcos de Barros Leopoldo 1963 births 2014 deaths Assassinated Brazilian journalists Brazilian male bloggers People from Ubatuba Deaths by firearm in Brazil Journalists killed in Brazil 20th-century Brazilian journalists 21st-century Brazilian journalists