25 May 2011

BRASIL: Amazon Activist Ribeiro da Silva And Wife Slain In Nova Ipixuna, Para.

GUARDIAN / T. Phillips

    Amazon environmental activist José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva received threats...but dismissed them.
    Now...6 months after predicting his own murder...he and his wife Maria do Espírito Santo were ambushed near their home in Nova Ipixuna in Pará.
   "He was convinced he would be killed one day," a prominent activist said...adding that da Silva was "very active" fighting illegal forest burning and logging.
    President Dilma Rousseff has reportedly asked staffer Gilberto Carvalho to support the murder investigation.
    "We now have another Chico Mendes," said another activist.