Rio de Janeiro: In the Shadow of the Hill

Rio de Janeiro favela residents rally against police brutality, corruption, impunity and ruthless state oppression.

In November 2011 military police took control of Rio de Janeiro's largest favela, Rocinha, forcing out armed gangs of drug traffickers without a single shot fired, in a government initiative to "pacify" the slums.

However, shortly afterwards reports began to emerge of widespread police abuse, which culminated in the disappearance of local bricklayer Amarildo de Souza.

He was last seen being taken into the police station for questioning but never came home. His family believed that he was tortured and murdered by the police, with impunity, like many other innocent civilians in the city.

Murder in Brazil: Covering the assassination of Marielle Franco

The murder of Franco puts a spotlight on the Brazilian media's treatment of the slums. Plus, Honduras' Radio Progreso.

Murder in Brazil: Covering the assassination of Marielle Franco

The assassination of a city councillor in Rio de Janeiro was a hit job clearly intended to send a message.

Marielle Franco embodied a new kind of politics, on behalf of the country's poor. She campaigned against the violent policing of the favelas, urban slums, which are mostly populated by Brazilians who share Franco's African heritage.

The coverage of her story has revealed the Brazilian media's own attitudes to the poor.