Chico Mendes
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Francisco Alves Mendes Filho , December 11, 1944 – December 22, 1988), also known as Chico Mendes, was a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist. He fought to stop the logging, of the Amazon Rainforest for the purposes of cattle ranching, and founded a national union of rubber tappers in an attempt to preserve their profession and the rainforest that it relied upon. He was murdered in 1988 by ranchers opposed to his 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 realise I am fighting for humanity." - Chico Mendes, Rubber tappers' leader
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[edit] History
Mendes grew up in a family of rubber tappers in Acre State, Brazil, and when he was of age, continued on in the family tradition. However, rubber prices had collapsed in the 1960s, and many landowners were selling their properties to the highest bidder - which in most cases, meant cattle ranchers. Rubber tappers were finding themselves pushed out of their lands.
In the 1970s, he joined the rubber tappers of the forest. They would march down logging trails, overrun forest clearance parties, disarming guards and attempting to convince the ranchers' workers not to continue. In many cases, they were successful at doing so, despite resistance from the ranchers -in 1980, Mendes' ally Wilson Pinheiro was assassinated.
[edit] Founding of unions
Mendes then began to move into a more mainstream political arena. He stood successfully for the local council in Xapuri. He was a leading local member of the socialist Workers Party (PT). He advocated the idea of creating forest reserves that would be managed by traditional communities, and sustainably harvesting goods such as rubber and Brazil nuts. He saw benefit in uniting the rubber tappers in an attempt to hold their ground against the ranchers, and founded the Xapuri Rural Workers' Union, becoming its President. Over the next few years, Mendes and the union had some successes, but he decided that it would be more beneficial to unite all the Brazilian tappers in one union.
When the first meeting of this new union, the National Council of Rubber Tappers, was held in 1985, in the capital, Brasilia, rubber tappers from all over the country came. Many had never been outside their local area before. He succeeded in educating many about the issues of deforestation, road paving, cattle ranching, and the threats to their own livelihoods. The meeting also had the effect of catching the attention of the international environmentalist movement, and highlighting their plight to a larger audience. He chose to align himself and the union with environmentalism, rather than Marxism. In October that year, English filmmaker Adrian Cowell made a documentary about Mendes.
[edit] Individual activism
In 1987, after being contacted by the Environmental Defense and National Wildlife Federation, Mendes flew to Washington D.C. in an attempt to convince the Inter-American Development Bank that their road project in his area would end in disaster, unless it took into consideration the preservation of the forest and the livelihoods of its inhabitants. He was successful, with the project first being postponed, and then, with his participation, renegotiated. He won two international environmental awards for this. On his return, he met with General Bayma Denys, the Minister of the Military Cabinet of the Presidency, and used the opportunity to push his ideas for reserves.
In 1988, Mendes launched a campaign to stop rancher Darly Alves da Silva from logging an area that was planned a reserve. Mendes not only managed to stop the planned deforestation and create the reserve, but also gained a warrant for Darly's arrest, for a murder committed in another state. He delivered the warrant to the federal police, but it was never acted upon.
[edit] Assassination
On 22 December 1988, Mendes was assassinated by gunshot at his Xapuri home. In December, 1990 rancher Darcy Pereira and his father were sentenced to 19 years in prison for their part in Mendes' assassination. In February, 1992, they won a retrial, but remained in prison. In 1993, they staged an escape, but Darcy was recaptured and as of 2004, is still in prison.
The death of Chico Mendes made international headlines, including being on the front page of the New York Times. After his death, and the international media attention caused by it, the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve was created in the area around where he lived. There are more than 20 such reserves now, along the same lines as Mendes had proposed, covering more than 8 million acres (32,000 km²). Paul McCartney released a song in his honor entitled "How Many People" on his 1989 album Flowers in the Dirt. A memorial garden in his honor was constructed in New York City, but was controversially demolished in 1997. He was also the focus of the song Cuando los Angeles Lloran by Mexican rock band Maná, Ricordati di Chico by Italian rock band Nomadi, The Tallest Tree by English singer-songwriter Roy Harper and was mentioned in the anthem Amazon by Australian singer-songwriter Bruce Watson. He was also cited in Living Colour's song "Sacred Ground".
[edit] In the Cinema
Chico Mendes was interpreted by Raúl Júliá in the movie The Burning Season (in portuguese, Amazônia em Chamas), directed by the film maker John Frankenheimer. In the cast, Sônia Braga, Edward James Olmos and Kamala Lopez-Dawson also feature. The movie is available in VHS and DVD formats. It was one of Juliá's last performances before his death in 1994; he posthumously won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Mendes.
