Chico Mendes

Francisco Mendès Alves Filho known as Chico Mendes (born the December 15th 1944 with Xapurí with the Brazil. He was the militant leader trade unionist Brésil the most known IEN among those which defended the rights of the " seringueiros ", workmen charged to collect latex in the plantations of hévéa of Amazonia. After many trade-union and personal combat for the defense of the forest Amazonia and those which live about it, he died assassinated the December 22nd 1988 with Xapurí.

Its life

Born in a family from seringueros of the Brazilian state of Acre, it started to work with old 9 years and is itself become seringueros. In the years 1960, because of the competition of the cultures of hévéa developed in Asia and of the synthetic rubber, the prices of the natural Latex crumbled plunging many workmen in misery. The land small holders then sold, many, their properties with highest offerer. In the majority of the cases, they are large cattle breeders (intended to often produce cheap meat for North America) who repurchased the grounds, by despoiling the small holders and the Amerindians, and by driving out the seringueros or by depriving them of work while cutting the trees of the forest, including the hévéas.

Chico Mendes initially carried out a local, social and environmental fight. To act politically and be better heard, it was presented to the elections municiplaes its commune (Xapuri). He was elected and there was one of the principal local members of the socialist team Parti the workers (Pt).

He recommended that are create forest reserves, managed by the traditional communities, and producing in a durable way of the products such as latex and the Brazil nut. The seringueros proposed that in these forest-reserves , they limit to less than 5% of the surface of the reserve surface authorized to the clearing (for the pasture and the cultures)

Indicator whom the forest moved back more and more quickly, and how much the Lobby of the landowners of it was responsible, destroying a not very renewable richness with the profit of pastures quickly degraded by the tropical climate, it sought to join together the seringueros and founded a Brazilian national union (union of the rural workers of Xapuri) in particular defending the rights of the workman collecting rubber. He became president about it. At the time of nonviolent demonstrations, the trade union, helped of part of the population tried peacefully to disarm the guards paid by the great landowners, all expressed some for the protection of the forest, often successfully, but not without resistances, sometimes violent of the owners (In 1980, Wilson Pinheiro, friend of Chico Mendes were assassinated). The Union of the Indian nations is then creates with beginning of the year 80 to obtain land rights recognized under the articles and legally. This union gathers approximately 200.000 Indians. To the chief Raoni, they also ask a physical demarcation of the reserves and tribal grounds, which also has for vocation the conservation and with the durable development and bearable of the forest resources by and for the people of the forest.

Thus, of a local fight for the safeguard of the hévéas, Chico Mendes widened its interest and those of its trade union to the great environmental and social causes (" With U beginning, I thought that I fought to save the hévéas; I thought whereas I fought to save the Amazon forest. Now, I know that I fight for humanity ")

Creation of the trade union

The first meeting of this new trade union, took the shape of a National council of the rubber récolteurs, which were held in 1985, in the capital Brasilia where flowed of the seringueros come from all the country, of which much had never left the forest or their locality. It succeeded in convincing the majority of them of the risks induced by deforestation, the opening of new roads, the development of the breeding, showing the threats which weighed on the means of subsistence of the people and populations living in forest and of the forest. This meeting drew the attention of large ONG environmental international and the general public, clarifying the distress of the people defended by the trade union. Chico Mendes chose to align its own acts and those of the European Public Service Union which it contributed to rather create on environmental lines than Marxist S. In November this same year, the English scenario writer Adrian Cowell turned documentary on Mendes, which will make known it in the whole world.

Personal militancy

In 1987, after being contacted by various ONG (Environmental Defense and National Wildlife Federation, C. Mendes took the plane for Washington in order to convince the inter-American Banque of development that its road projects would be cause of an environmental disaster, unless taking into account the safeguarding of the forest and means of life of its inhabitants. It succeeded so that a moratorium blocks the projects and with being associated with the new projects, which was worth two international rewards as regards environment to him.
À its return, it could be received by the general Bayma Denys Ministre for the military Commission of the Cabinet of the Presidency, and benefitted from the occasion for pushing again ahead its proposal for a creation of reserves, which required that police force can protect the traditional forest and its users against the stockbreeders who paid and armed with the militia or mercenaries to advance their projects.

In 1988, Chico Mendes launched a campaign to stop the Déforestation of a zone where a forest reserve, started by large a stockbreeder Brazilian Darly Alves da Silva was planned. Chico Mendes not only succeeded in blocking deforestation and creating the reserve envisaged, but it as succeeded with as a warrant for arrest is emitted against the Darly stockbreeder, following a murder made in another State. The federal police emitted well the warrant for arrest, but there forever taken action pursuant.

Increasingly known for its calls to the peaceful resistance at the time of its actions in favor of the safeguard of the Amazon forest against the land great landowners who cleared the forest to make there feed their herds of bovines, with the detriment of the mediums of life of the Amerindian S, the black chestnuts (downward of the former slaves flee in the jungle) and of the seringueros, it seems that Chico Mendes exceeded the stockbreeders, and particularly Darcy.

Assassination

Chico Mendes was assassinated, killed with old 44 years the December 22nd 1988 at his place in Xapurí, in front of its family, by hired killers paid by a rich person landowner, cattle breeder.
Deux years later, in December 1990, the stockbreeder Darcy Alves Pereira and his/her son Darli Alves were condemned to 19 years of prison to have fomented the assassination of Mendes.
In February 1992, they obtained a new lawsuit, but remained imprisoned.
En 1993, they organized an escape, but Darcy was taken again and in 2004, it was always in prison.

The murder of Chico Mendes moved the whole world. It did the one of the cuffs in almost all the countries, and the front page of the NewYork Times . Partly thanks to the attention of the international mediums following its assassination, of the forest reserves were really créees in the area where it alive. There are some today more than 20, covering more than 8 million hectares (32000 km ²).

Personality-symbol and continuations…

Chico Mendes became and remained one of the symbols of the defense of the Amazonia and more generally of the environment and sustainable development. For this reason, its name was given to many colleges, colleges and with certain ONG. After its death, several million ha of Amazon forest was declared " reserves of extraction " (= > prohibited clearing) in Brazil. Other reserves of this type (aiming at the interest of the local populations via the protection of the forest), were created with the Peru and in Bolivia and inspired several reserves of the Programme Man and Biosphere of UNESCO.

Many authors, documentarists and journalists evoked it or devoted a thorough work to him. Alex Shoumatoff (writer and journalist in New-Yorker) devoted one entitled book to him “ Which killed Chico Mendes? ”

Shine Sepulveda, friend of Chico Mendes paid to him a homage posthumous in its dedication to the Vieux which read love stories , where he deplores his assassination. Paul McCartney (member, inter alia, of Green Peace) also paid to him homage on its album Flowers In The Dirt with the song How Many People written in 1989 to its memory.

See too

Amazonia, Tropical forest
Rubber, Latex

External bonds

Site of the Committee Chico Mendes
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