Chico Mendes: twenty years later

Twenty years after the murder of the Brazilian environmentalist and union leader,
the Amazon rain forest is still at risk of extinction

Chico Mendes, the rubber tapper who campaigned against the Amazon deforestation,
became a world noun when the United Nations Environmental Program awarded him
the prize Global 500 Roll of Honour, in 1987.

Born Francisco Alves Mendes Filho in the State of Acre, Brazil, in 1944, Chico Mendes
was raised in a family of rubber tappers and since early childhood dedicated himself to
the cause of those who lived in the forest.

As a rubber tapper, Mr Mendes collected latex and nuts in the forest and tried to
preserve the trees from landowners interested in illegally knocking them down. He
worked for the equality among men and the environmental preservation.

Chico Mendes was struck down by Darci Alves Pereira, son of the rancher Darly Alves
da Silva, on 22nd Dec., 1988, in front of his house in Xapuri, Acre. Darly saw Chico
Mendes as someone contrary to his interests as a rancher. Mr Mendes was survived by
his wife Ilzamar Mendes and two children, Sandino and Elenira.

Both Darly and Darci are now free and wealthy ranchers. They were freed after serving
a third of their 19-year sentences.

Not surprisingly, since Chico Mendes’ death, more than 1,100 activists, judges, priests,
and advocates of the forest have been killed, according to the Catholic Land Pastoral.
Dorothy Stang, a catholic nun from the USA, who lived in the State of Pará and tried to
protect land in that state, was murdered in 2005.

Mr Mendes was amnestied by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice earlier this month. As a
result of the amnesty, his family will receive US$ 141.000,00 and US$1.258 monthly.

The Brazilian Minister of Justice, Tarso Genro, said in the event that “Mendes was a
man ahead of his time. He was a civilizer, who fought against inequality, violence and
impunity”. Mrs Ilzamar, Mendes’ widow, also pointed out that her “husband had never
incited crime. On the contrary, he was an advocate of life.”

Chico Mendes “made a difference in the defense of the dignity of life and the
preservation of the forest”, said the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the
day Chico’s death completed twenty years.

“When he was murdered is that Brazil became aware that it had a leadership extremely
important, anonymous”, Lula completed.

Some progress has been made since Chico Mendes’ death, such as the creation of land
reserves in the jungle. Nonetheless, there is still plenty of lawlessness in the Amazon
region, and that makes the future of the rain forest still all the more uncertain.

By Hamilton William dos Santos’

São Paulo – Brazil

For more information, please, visit:

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/the-uncertain-legacy-of-chico-
mendes/?scp=1&sq=chico%20mendes&st=cse

http://www.mj.gov.br/main.asp?View={674805E8-6838-4CB2-A369-
3EFA87A5B44E}&Team=&params=itemID={0C7143EB-F6E6-4051-ABC2-
D4B399D723E4};&UIPartUID={2218FAF9-5230-431C-A9E3-E780D3E67DFE}

http://www.institutochicomendes.org.br/institucional_chico.htm

http://oglobo.globo.com/pais/mat/2008/12/22/no-dia-em-que-morte-de-chico-mendes-
completa-20-anos-lula-destaca-papel-do-lider-na-preservacao-da-floresta-587502747.asp

http://www.estadao.com.br/nacional/not_nac292779,0.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Mendes