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PATROCINIO (MG) – Patrocínio, a city in the interior of Minas Gerais with around 100,000 inhabitants, known for producing one of the most expensive coffees in the world, has been dismayed since Thursday, when the candidate for councilor Cássio Remis (PSDB) was assassinated by the brother of the mayor and municipal secretary of Works, Jorge Marra. The two were part of traditional families of regional politics, but until then they lived together peacefully.
Neighbors say that in addition to the Remis and Marras, the Brazilian families, Queiroz, Elias and Siqueira also have political influence in the city of Alto Paranaíba. Often times, on opposite sides, the differences had never reached the criminal field.
– It has always been a peaceful place, with no history of political crimes. The city is still shocked, trying to understand what happened – says journalist Alex Guimarães Machado.
The 37-year-old lawyer Cássio Remis was president of the PSDB in the municipality and had previously been a councilor for two terms. In 2016, he was defeated by the current mayor, Deiró Marra (DEM), in the race for the position. Since then, the political activist has stood out for making videos on social networks denouncing alleged irregularities of the current administration.
In June, Cassio accused the mayor’s brother of using town hall equipment on his farms. The family is part of the group of the main rural producers in the region, an activity responsible for 80% of the taxes collected in the municipality.
Known as the capital of coffee, the city came to appear in the pages of newspapers in 2017, for having reached the mark of the most expensive coffee in the world, after auctioning a kilo of production for R $ 917.
Before Cássio’s murder, the episodes of violence in Patrocínio were occasional, mainly due to drug trafficking. In June and July, a dispute over drug outlets in one of the city’s neighborhoods left six suspects dead.
Residents report that trafficking arrived in the region after the inauguration of the Deputado Expedito de Faria Tavares Penitentiary, which houses inmates of the country’s largest criminal faction, which operates in São Paulo prisons.
The police are following the developments of Remis’s murder, as after the crime, death threats were made against the mayor as a form of revenge. The shooter, Jorge Marra, is a fugitive.
The disagreement began on Thursday morning, when the construction secretary interrupted a live broadcast of the candidate and seized his cell phone by force. Live, Remis denounced that the city was doing a work on the sidewalk in front of the place scheduled to receive the electoral commission of Deiró Marra, which is running for re-election.
Remis reportedly went to the municipal office to retrieve his cell phone, where the crime took place. A video from the security system shows the moment when Jorge Marra draws a gun and shoots the victim. Witnesses report that three shots were fired with the lawyer already lying on the ground, one of them with a pistol resting on his head.
Deiró Marra staff did not return GLOBO’s contacts. In a post on his social networks, the mayor called the crime a tragedy. He decreed mourning for three days and exonerated his brother from the position of construction secretary.
