Two rainforest activists were gunned down in May 2011. Activists claim that the murders are linked to the ongoing battle that
pits environmentalists and small farmers seeking to protect the Amazonian
rainforest, against landowners who want to expand their crops and cattle
ranching there. José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do
Espírito Santo, were killed on 24 May, six months after Ribeiro da Silva had predicted
during an international environmental conference that he could be killed at any
time. The activists were known for their vocal stance
against illegal loggers, cattle ranchers and charcoal producers operating in
Praia-Alta Piranheira, a remote Amazon settlement in Brazil’s Para state, where
they lived.
Nearly four months after the killings police in the Brazilian Amazon arrested two men. Police named the prisoners as José Rodrigues Moreira, who is accused of
ordering the killings, and his brother Lindon Johnson Silva Rocha, who allegedly
carried out the executions. José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva told a TEDx conference in Manaus that he expected to be killed. “I will
protect the forest at all costs. That is why I could get a bullet in my head at
any moment,” he said. Ribeiro da Silva’s sister said, “We believe there are more people
involved [in the murders].”
pits environmentalists and small farmers seeking to protect the Amazonian
rainforest, against landowners who want to expand their crops and cattle
ranching there. José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do
Espírito Santo, were killed on 24 May, six months after Ribeiro da Silva had predicted
during an international environmental conference that he could be killed at any
time. The activists were known for their vocal stance
against illegal loggers, cattle ranchers and charcoal producers operating in
Praia-Alta Piranheira, a remote Amazon settlement in Brazil’s Para state, where
they lived.
Nearly four months after the killings police in the Brazilian Amazon arrested two men. Police named the prisoners as José Rodrigues Moreira, who is accused of
ordering the killings, and his brother Lindon Johnson Silva Rocha, who allegedly
carried out the executions. José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva told a TEDx conference in Manaus that he expected to be killed. “I will
protect the forest at all costs. That is why I could get a bullet in my head at
any moment,” he said. Ribeiro da Silva’s sister said, “We believe there are more people
involved [in the murders].”
©
2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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