View source for Edson Luís de Lima Souto

{{Short description|Brazilian student protester killed by military police in 1968}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Edson Luís de Lima Souto
| image              = Registro estudantil de Edson Luís de Lima Souto.tif
| caption            = Student registry of Edson Luiz. [[National Archives of Brazil]]
| birth_name         = Edson Luís de Lima Souto
| birth_date         = February 24, 1950
| birth_place        = [[Belém]], [[Pará]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1968|3|28|1950|2|24}}
| death_place        = [[Rio de Janeiro]], [[Rio de Janeiro (state)|Rio de Janeiro]]
| death_cause        = Shot [[point blank]] in the chest by Aloísio Raposo, a [[Military Police (Brazil)|Military Police]] officer
| nationality        = Brazilian
| occupation         = [[High school]] student
}}
'''Edson Luís de Lima Souto''' ({{IPA|pt|ˈɛdʒsõ luˈiz dʒi ˈlimɐ ˈsowtu}}; February 24, 1950 – March 28, 1968) was a Brazilian teenage student killed by the [[Military Police (Brazil)|military police]] of [[Rio de Janeiro (state)|Rio de Janeiro]] after a confrontation in the restaurant Calabouço ({{IPA|pt|ˌkalɐˈbowsu|IPA}}), in downtown [[Rio de Janeiro]]. Edson was one of the first students to be killed by the [[Brazilian military government]], and the aftermath of his death marked the beginning of a turbulent year for the regime, which ended with the enactment of [[AI-5]], a decree restricting most of the basic [[human rights]] guarantees.
==Biography==
Born into an impoverished family of [[Belém]], [[Pará]], Edson Luís began his studies at the Augusto Meira State School in his hometown. He later moved to Rio de Janeiro in order to study at the Instituto Cooperativo de Ensino ({{langx|en|Cooperative Education Institute}}), a [[high school]] facility where the Calabouço restaurant for low-income students operated.
==Death==
On March 28, 1968, students in Rio de Janeiro organized a surprise march to protest against the high prices of meals in the Calabouço Restaurant, that began in the late afternoon on that same day.
Around 6:00 pm, the Military Police arrived at the location and dispersed the protesters who were in front of the building. Some students took refuge inside the restaurant and responded to police violence with sticks and stones. This caused the police to step back, and the street was left deserted. When the officers returned, shots were fired from the building of the Brazilian Legion of Assistance, which caused panic among the students, who fled the location.
The police believed that the students were planning to attack the nearby [[United States Embassy]] and eventually broke into the restaurant. During the raid, the commander of the Military Police troops, Aloísio Raposo, shot and killed Edson Luís with a [[Point-blank range|point-blank shot]] into his chest. Another student, Benedito Frazão Dutra, was injured and later died in the hospital.
==Aftermath==
Fearing that the police would hide Edson Luís' body, students did not allow him to be taken to the Forensic Institute; instead, they carried him to the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro, where a funeral service was held. An autopsy was performed there by doctors Nilo Ramos de Assis and Ivan Nogueira Bastos, under pressure from Military Police officers and agents of DOPS, the military regime's [[political police]].
[[File:Corpo de Edson Luís de Lima Souto.tif|left|thumb|Body of Edson Luiz de Lima Souto, watched by students. [[Brazilian National Archives|National Archives of Brazil]]]]
Between the funeral and the seventh-day mass held in the [[Candelária Church]] on April 2, several demonstrations were organized across the country to protest against Edson Luís' death. In [[São Paulo]], around 4,000 students staged a protest at the [[University of São Paulo]] Medical School. Demonstrations also were held in the August XI Academic Center of the [[Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de São Paulo|São Francisco Law School]], in the Polytechnic School of USP, and in the [[Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo]].
Rio de Janeiro stopped on the day of Edson Luís' burial. To express their protest, movie theaters in [[Cinelândia]] announced the screening of three films: ''[[The Night of the Generals]]'', ''[[Point Blank (1967 film)|Point Blank]]'', and ''Coração de Luto'' (''Heart of Grief''). In hundreds of movie posters phrases such as "Do bullets kill hunger?", "Old people in power, young people in coffin", and "They killed a student... what if it was your son?" were written.
[[File:Camisa de Edson Luís de Lima Souto.tif|thumb|Mass rally in honor of Lima Souto. A protester shows the student's bloodstained shirt he wore when shot.]]
Edson Luís was buried to the sound of the "[[Brazilian National Anthem]]", sung by the crowd present at the cemetery.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=1968 o ano que não terminou|last=Ventura|first=Zuenir|date=1988|publisher=Nova fronteira|isbn=8520901182|edition= 2nd|location=Sāo Paulo|oclc=494535570}}</ref>
==The mass==
On the morning of April 4, a [[Roman Catholic]] [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]] was held at the Candelária Church to honor the memory of Edson Luís. After the mass, people leaving the church were attacked by the cavalry of the Military Police. Dozens of people were injured.
Another mass was to be held on the same day, but the military dictatorship vetoed the religious event. The vicar-general of Rio de Janeiro, D. Castro Pinto, however, insisted on performing it. Around 600 people attended the mass. Fearing a massacre, the priests ordered people not to leave the church. On the outside, there were three ranks of soldiers on horseback with sabers, behind them were the Marine Corps and several of the DOPS agents.
In an unprecedented act of courage, the churchmen took hands, forming a human barrier between the police and those who attended the mass. They escorted the churchgoers safely up to Rio Branco Street. However, the police waited until the clergymen left to start beating several people.<ref name=":0" />
==Tributes==
The song "Menino" (''Boy''), composed by [[Milton Nascimento]] and Ronaldo Bastos and recorded in the album Geraes (1976), is about Edson Luis.<ref>"[http://www.anpocs.org/portal/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=4546&Itemid=356 A morte de Edson Luís no Calabouço em 1968] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928162238/http://www.anpocs.org/portal/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=4546&Itemid=356|date=September 28, 2015}}". Acesso: 28 de setembro, 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.jornalggn.com.br/blog/luisnassif/menino-de-milton-nascimento-0 Menino, de Milton Nascimento] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929022821/http://www.jornalggn.com.br/blog/luisnassif/menino-de-milton-nascimento-0 |date=2015-09-29 }}. [[Luis Nassif]]. 28/03/2013. Accessed: 28 September 2015.</ref>
The song "Coração de Estudante" (''Student's Heart''), composed by Wagner Tiso under the initial name "Tema de Jango" (''Jango's Theme'') for a documentary about [[João Goulart]], received lyrics by Milton Nascimento remembering the tragedy of Edson Luís. The song was renamed "Coração de Estudante" and recorded in Nascimento's "Ao Vivo" (Live) album from 1983.<ref>[http://blogs.portalnoar.com/djacirdantas/pequenas-historias-das-cancoes-coracao-de-estudante Pequenas Histórias das Canções – Coração de Estudante] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226020248/http://blogs.portalnoar.com/djacirdantas/pequenas-historias-das-cancoes-coracao-de-estudante/ |date=2016-12-26 }}. Djacir Dantas. 20/11/2012. Accessed: 4 December 2016.</ref>
On March 28, 2008, to honor the 40 years since Edson Luís' death, a statue of him was inaugurated at the Ana Amélia Square (between Churchill Avenue and Santa Luzia Street), in Rio de Janeiro.
==See also==
* [[1960s Brazilian student movement]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Edson Luís}}
*Gonçalves, Vanessa. [http://www.jornalorebate.com/colunistas2/van2.htm "O cadáver que faltava"], ''O Rebate'', July 14, 2006.
*Mendoza, Gabriel. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081020095648/http://www.jr-irj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=277&Itemid=50 "Edson Luís: Presente!"], ''Juventude Revolução'', March 28, 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Souto, Edson Luis De Lima}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:Brazilian murder victims]]
[[Category:People from Belém]]
[[Category:People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Brazil]]
[[Category:Police brutality in Brazil]]
[[Category:Assassinations in Brazil]]