AssassinationofstudentEdsonLuís

The new Restaurante Central dos Estudantes, opened in 1967 near Santos Dumont airport, was a huge warehouse with capacity for ten thousand people. Better known as Calabouço, it served needy students, especially high school and college-entrance-exam candidates, and was funded with money from the Federal Government. Although cheap, the food was bad and the place was unsanitary.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a group of people gathered around a table, possibly in a meeting place or café. The image is in focus at the front, with several people sitting in chairs, talking and interacting. On the left, we see a man wearing sunglasses and a striped shirt, followed by another man in a plaid shirt. Further to the right, there is another person in a plaid shirt, also wearing sunglasses. In the background, other people are seated at different tables, filling the space of the room.

Students frequently organized marches to protest against the poor conditions, as would happen on March 28, 1968. This time, however, they were caught off guard by the police vehicles that surrounded the site. The protesters fought back by throwing stones; the police, with machine-gun bursts. In the clash, six people were wounded. One of them fatally, in the chest: the 18-year-old student Edson Luís de Lima Souto.

"Menino" — Milton Nascimento, 1976

The young man was carried by his fellow students from Calabouço to the Legislative Assembly, where a plenary session with 55 deputies was interrupted. Edson Luís's body was laid out in the building's lobby, making the murder committed by the police public and undeniable. The student movement declared a general strike, theaters suspended their shows, and, during the night, hundreds of people attended the wake.

People kept a respectful silence or simply joined the students' call to take part in Edson Luís's funeral – 03/29/1968. Correio da Manhã Collection/Arquivo Nacional.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a funeral. In the upper part, there is a building with large windows and a sign that reads "CORAÇÃO DE LUTO." The sign is above a crowd that appears to be attending a funeral. People are carrying a coffin covered by a shroud. On the left, there are more people watching the event. In the background, other onlookers look out from the building's window.

The following morning, Rio's newspapers ran "Murder" in their headlines. The death of an 'innocent' student, who was neither a militant nor a 'subversive', was being called into question. At 4 p.m., more than 50,000 people took part in the procession that carried the body of Edson Luís to the São João Batista cemetery, in Botafogo. The coffin, covered with the flag of Brazil, was carried by students, congressmen, and artists, who sang the National Anthem. Roses were thrown from the tops of buildings. In the crowd, there were signs reading "The old in power, the young in the coffin," "Do bullets kill hunger?" and, perhaps the most emblematic of all: "They killed a student. It could have been your son."

The murder of Edson Luís mobilized broad social sectors against the violence committed by the Military Dictatorship. Correio da Manhã Collection/Arquivo Nacional.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a public demonstration. The image shows a dense, tightly packed crowd, with many participants holding signs. The signs bear messages in Portuguese, such as "Journalists against official crime" and "Artists against dictatorship." The spatial arrangement is horizontal, with the signs being most prominent at the center and front of the participants. Everyone appears to be focused on something outside the frame, possibly toward the camera.