247 columnist Latuff responds to death threats.

247 – Cartoonist and columnist for 247, Carlos Latuff, reacted to the frequent death threats he has received in retaliation for his art. In an open letter appealing for an end to 'official death squads like ROTA and BOPE, which only kill black and poor people; for an end to the “war on drugs”; for an end to the militaristic philosophy in the police'. Read:

"It was to be expected that there would be a violent reaction to my provocation that the boy who killed his father, a ROTA police officer, deserved psychological treatment and a medal. In the police state in which we live in Brazil, the organizations of repression are elevated to a sacrosanct status. Anyone who dares to denounce their abuses runs a serious risk to their life. This is nothing new to me, since 1999, when I made my first protest against police violence, holding a virtual exhibition of cartoons entitled "The Police Kill". Throughout my 23 years as a cartoonist, I have been arrested three times for drawing against the brutality of the Brazilian police, and I have received countless threats, whether from Zionist Jews because of my cartoons in favor of the Palestinians, or from Muslim extremists for my cartoons on the Egyptian and Syrian issues. Therefore, threats are part of my job."

This time, with social media, these threats are amplified, thanks to communities related to police organizations, which bring together not only active members of the repressive forces, but also sympathizers with fascist, anti-communist, anti-PT (Workers' Party), sexist, and homophobic profiles. It is known that two of these profiles, "Farmed and Armed" and "Tobias de Aguiar 'ROTA' Ostensive Patrols," are inciting their members to take violent action against me. And it is quite possible that this will happen, after all, the police kill! I wouldn't be the first, and certainly not the last. This is a characteristic of our police, of our state. And if it happens, the administrators of these communities and the Brazilian state should be held accountable.

I'm glad this controversy is happening. Given cases like the disappearance of bricklayer Amarildo in Rocinha, and so many others across Brazil—a cursed legacy of the military dictatorship that tortured, killed, and disappeared numerous left-wing activists—it's always good to discuss police violence, a taboo subject few dare to address.

I feel proud to receive threats like this. I feel on the same level as the courageous activists of Mothers of May and the Network of Communities who daily risk their lives to defend the victims of state terrorism in Brazil. If I have to fall for what I believe in, I will fall. My father, a rough-around-the-edges man from Nova Russas, Ceará, didn't raise me to be weak.

I hope that all this effort has not been in vain, or that it does not end with my death. May the left-wing parties, PSOL, PSTU, National Communist Party of Brazil – PCB (Official), PCdoB – Communist Party of Brazil, Revolutionary Communist Party, Workers' Cause Party, and movements such as the League of Poor Peasants, MST – Landless Workers' Movement, and MTST – Homeless Workers' Movement, and even the left wing of the Workers' Party, always defend the banner of human rights and oppose police violence.

For an end to official death squads like ROTA and BOPE, which only kill Black and poor people. For an end to the "war on drugs." For an end to the militaristic philosophy within the police forces.

Thanks everyone! They shall not pass!

Carlos latuff

Cartunista

August 07, 2013