The murder of environmentalist Chico Mendes

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2020

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In December 1988 the Brazilian environmental campaigner, Chico Mendes, was shot dead by cattle ranchers, unhappy at being prevented from exploiting land in the Amazon jungle. The 44-year-old leader of the rubber tappers union had become a powerful symbol of the struggle to save the Amazon and his death sparked renewed interest in environmental issues world-wide. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from the anthropologist Mary Allegretti, who was a close friend of Mendes and worked alongside him in the jungle.

Photo: Chico Mendes and his family. Credit: Str/AFP/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. Hello and thank you for downloading the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:46.6	First-hand stories of events that have shaped our world.
0:50.2	I'm Mike Lanchin.
0:52.2	And today we're going back to December 1988 and the murder by local
0:56.3	ranchers of the world-renowned Brazilian rubber-tapper and environmental campaigner Shikomendez.
1:03.4	I've been hearing from some of those closest to Mendez at the time of his death. It was December 22nd 1988 when he was assassinated.
1:25.9	He'd spent the whole day with me and the children.
1:28.9	He'd never dedicated a whole day to us and so somehow it felt as if he was saying goodbye.
1:34.0	Shikomendez's wife, Ilsema, was with him that day, at home in the small town of
1:40.1	Chaparri, deep in the Amazon forest. I said there's water in the house, you can have a bath here. But he
1:46.7	insisted he wanted a bath in the washroom outside. He went out with his towel.
1:53.0	The moment I turned my back, I heard the shot.
1:56.0	I wanted to believe it was his leg that had been shot,
1:58.0	but there was so much blood I knew it was more serious.
2:01.0	He just kept saying, Elinira, Elinira.
2:04.0	Elinira.
2:07.0	Elinira, Elinira.
	...

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