May Democratic Networks go viral around the world.

The creation of the European Network for Democracy in Brazil (RED.Br) took place at the beginning of 2019 - a year that promises to be difficult for people who believe in, fight for, and desire a world established on progressive and democratic paths.

Concerned and appalled by the situation Brazil is going through, Brazilians and friends of the country mobilized thousands of people in France and throughout Europe to inform and warn about what is happening in the troubled lands of the largest country in Latin America.

The genesis of RED.Br stems, more precisely, from the articulation between MD18, a movement against Temer's coup d'état, and ARBRE (an association for research on Brazil in Europe). From this encounter of resistance and solidarity emerges the NGO, which includes university students, intellectuals, artists, and activists.

The first major initiative of its nine co-founders was to put into practice the important and symbolic campaign to name a public thoroughfare in Paris after Marielle. As I write this, news has already emerged that the Parisian City Council has unanimously voted in favor of a motion expressing the city's intention to name a location (street, square, or public passage) after the councilwoman.

The motion was presented by a left-wing majority, but also received support from the opposition. It's a tribute to Marielle, but also a way to support the contemporary fight against violence and anti-democratic oppression around the world.

In this vein, on March 26th, at the tenth prefecture of the city of Paris, a conference was held in memory of Marielle and also in support of women's rights and democracy. Present were Marcia Tiburi, philosopher and writer in self-imposed exile from Brazil; Mônica Francisco, former collaborator of Marielle, human rights activist and current deputy for the state of Rio de Janeiro; Maud Chirio, historian (Université de Marne-la-Vallée) and member of RED.Br; and Silvia Capanema, historian (Université Paris 13), departmental councilor of Saint-Denis and President of RED.Br.

Not to mention the important figures in the audience, which filled the building's main hall, such as Hélène Bidart, Deputy Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and in charge of the dossier on the Rue Marielle project.

Beyond the striking interventions of Brazilian women through their speeches of denunciation and resistance, each in their own way, the feeling is that the ideas, visions, and analyses discussed resonate and will resonate increasingly throughout the world. Furthermore, Marielle's face is beginning to appear on walls around the globe, in countries such as Chile, Argentina, Mexico, the United States, Germany, and various other places in Europe, China, Israel, and even Madagascar.

International solidarity with the current Brazilian political situation, in this form, dates back to the dark times of the military dictatorship, and the feeling of déjà vu is ever-present.

Under these circumstances, Paris would be the first city to officially have a street named after Marielle Franco. Therefore, the encouraging message of support for all activists for human rights and democracy in Brazil remains undeniable. This would show that carrying on her memory is not the struggle of a minority of activists, but a universal struggle, legitimate in the eyes of a large part of the progressive international community, and that the narrative of present-day Brazil will not be written by those who propagate hatred, violence, and forgetfulness.

Furthermore, the City of Lights is a formidable symbol thanks to its history of popular revolts and resistance, and the struggles for human, social, and political rights associated with them. This imagery is powerful, and many Brazilians are aware of it.

When it comes to Brazil, it's quite noticeable in analyses, impressions, and barroom conversations across Europe, the feeling of affection and unease that hangs in the collective consciousness around the world. People are incredulous at the political, economic, and moral chaos into which the country is sinking. It seems that a new world order is waiting for the Brazilian nation, hoping that it will secure its leading role in the socio-political paradigm shift that we all need.

We were on that path. We need to return to it, to rediscover the path to happiness. Marielle is, therefore, the personification of the counterpoint to the obscurantism of tropical fascism. She is the specter and the meaning to be aspired to in the fight against authoritarianism and virile ignorance. Her omnipresence is the fuel that will defeat this civilizational regression in the country and on the continent where her veins remain open.

The co-founders of RED.Br (Réseau Européen pour la Démocratie au Brésil): Antoine Acker, Susana Bleil, Silvia Capanema, Maud Chirio, Juliette Dumont, Anaïs Fléchet, Filipe Galvon, Rodrigo Nabuco, Sébastien Rozeaux.

In truth, what we are is the new Rome. A late and tropical Rome. Brazil is already the largest of the Neo-Latin nations, in terms of population size, and is beginning to be so also in terms of its artistic and cultural creativity. It now needs to be so in the domain of the technology of the future civilization, to become an economic power, of self-sustained progress. We are building ourselves in the struggle to flourish tomorrow as a new civilization, mixed-race and tropical, proud of itself. More joyful, because it has suffered more. Better, because it incorporates more humanities. More generous, because it is open to coexistence with all races and all cultures and because it is based in the most beautiful and luminous province of the Earth.

         Darcy Ribeiro

Photos: Fernanda Peruzzo.