Wikipedia:
Chico Mendes
Francisco Alves Mendes Filho,[1] better known as Chico Mendes (Brazilian Portuguese: /ˈʃiku ˈmẽdʒis, -dʒiʃ, -dis/) 15 December 1944 – 22 December 1988), was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples. He was assassinated by a rancher on 22 December 1988. The Chico Mendes Institute for Conservation of Biodiversity (Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade or ICMBio), a body under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, is named in his honor.
Chico Mendes and his wife,
Ilsamar Mendes,
at their home in Xapuri in 1988
Early life
Francisco "Loco" Alves Mendes Filho was born on 15 December 1944, in a rubber reserve called Seringal Bom Futuro,[2] outside of Xapuri, a small town in the state of Acre. He was the son of a second-generation rubber tapper, Francisco Mendes, and his wife, Iracê.[3] Chico was one of 17 siblings—only six of whom survived childhood.[4]
At age 9, Chico began work as a rubber tapper alongside his father.[citation needed] The primary use for rubber then was for the rapid need for condoms.[citation needed] The 80s was an era of unprotected intercourse, and the demand for the rubber suits were at alarming rate.[citation needed] The government and cattle ranchers expelled many seringueiros from their land, including areas near Xapuri due to tensions surrounding the new invention of latex.[citation needed] At the time, the rubber industry across the nation was in decline, and land was frequently sold and burned for cattle pastures.[citation needed]
Rubber tappers additionally faced a severe lack of education. Schools were frequently forbidden on and near plantations, as the owners did not want the workers to be able to read and do arithmetic. For this reason, Mendes did not learn to read until he was 18 years old, when he sought out help interpreting his bills.[5][6]
Mendes was taught to read and write by a man named Euclides Fernando Távora, an activist turned rubber tapper. Most of his practice came from newspaper clippings on social and political issues within Brazil. These articles opened Chico's eyes to the widespread injustices in society, adding to his dissatisfaction with the treatment of seringueiros.[citation needed]
After learning what he could from Távora, Mendes became a literacy teacher in hopes of educating his community. As his fellow workers became more aware of unjust treatment, they formed the Rural Workers’ Union, and the more localized Xapuri Rubber Tappers Union. Both of these organizations worked through peaceful protest to stop the logging and burning of the rainforest that acted as their livelihood.[citation needed]
By the mid-1980s, Chico was known as both a radical unionist and an activist, though he also ran for several local political positions such as state deputy and city councilor.[7][6]
Activism
At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.
—?Chico Mendes
To save the rainforest, Chico Mendes and the rubber workers union asked the government to set up reserves as they wanted people to use the forest without damaging it. They also used a very effective technique they called the 'empate' where rubber tappers blocked the way into rubber reserves, preventing their destruction.[8] [9]
The Rubber Tappers' Union was created in 1975 in the nearby town of Brasileia, with Wilson Pinheiro elected as the union's president and Mendes as its secretary.[8][10]
Mendes also played a central role in the creation of the National Council of Rubber Tappers in the mid-1980s.[11] Mendes' group also had strong ties with the National Campaign for the Defence and Development of the Amazon, and helped organize local Workers' Party support.[12]
. . .
Assassination
Mendes had received death threats for years before his murder.[19] However, in the months prior to his death, various pairs of gunmen hired by Silva observed Mendes from a square near his house and the town union hall.[citation needed]
On the evening of Thursday, 22 December 1988, Mendes was assassinated in his Xapuri home by Darci, the son of Darly Alves da Silva. The shooting took place exactly one week after Mendes' 44th birthday when he had predicted he would "not live until Christmas".[citation needed]
Around his birthday, the gunmen who had been observing him disappeared completely. Their absence gave the community a sense of impending doom, as they had been constantly present since May of the same year. The timing of their disappearance led many to believe they had unsuccessfully attempted to kill Mendes on his birthday but had failed because of numerous guests present at his house.[5]
Mendes was the 90th rural activist murdered that year in Brazil.[20] Many felt that although the trial was proceeding against Mendes' killers, the roles of the ranchers' union, the Rural Democratic Union, and the Brazilian Federal Police in his death were ignored.[21]
More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Mendes#:~:text=Francisco%20Alves%20Mendes%20Filho%2C%20better,trade%20union%20leader%20and%20environmentalist.&text=He%20was%20assassinated%20by%20a%20rancher%20on%2022%20December%201988.
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Brazil salutes Chico Mendes 25 years after his murder
This article is more than 7 years old
Jan Rocha in São Paulo and Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro
@jonathanwatts
Fri 20 Dec 2013 12.35 EST
Tributes to man who campaigned to stop forest clearance in Amazon tempered by resurgent influence of landowners' lobby
When Chico Mendes was gunned down in the Amazon, the two policemen who were supposed to protect him were playing dominoes at his kitchen table. It was 22 December 1988.
The officers had been sent to the union activist's small wooden home in Xapuri after he received death threats from landowners, who were enraged by his campaign to prevent forest clearance. But the police dropped their guard when Mendes stepped out to have a shower in the backyard. A single bullet from a .22 rifle killed him instantly. The assassin, a rancher named Darcy Alves, said "it was like shooting a jaguar".
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/20/brazil-salutes-chico-mendes-25-years-after-murder
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