German company Heckler & Koch, one of the world's leading arms manufacturers, decided to stop exporting to Brazil due to political changes under Jair Bolsonaro and the "tough police operation against the population."
HK supplies rifles and submachine guns to several Brazil forces, such as the Federal Police and Rio police. They are weapons of restricted use, although they often appear in the hands of bandits.
The seven shots that killed councilwoman Marielle Franco (PSOL-Rio) and her driver in 2018 were from an HK MP5 submachine gun.
The decision was confirmed on Thursday (27), during the company's annual general meeting, at the Association of Critical Shareholders' request.
The German activist entity buys shares in several companies in the country and participates in meetings to ask questions and collect data on practices that it considers unethical.
The also association monitors the sale of pesticides and the relationship with projects seen as harmful to the environment. It seeks to expose the collaboration of German companies with the 1964 dictatorship.
In 2019, the company's president, Jens Bodo Koch, had said that HK would no longer supply weapons to Brazil, but did not explain why.
According to Folha's Christian Russau, a member of the association's board of directors questioned the interruption.
"The spokesman said: 'With the changes in Brazil, especially the political turmoil before the presidential elections and the tough action of the police against the population, the decision was confirmed,'" reported Russau.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon