Fulgencio Manuel da Silva, Brazilian union leader, and leader of dam-affected peoples' movement died in Recife on October 23 after having been shot the night before in Santa Maria da Boa Vista. Fulgencio had received death threats from drug traffickers in the region, for he had waged a crusade in favour of the farmers of the Sao Francisco River valley, and for the cease of the violence at the “caatinga”, the impoverished Northeastern region of the country. He helped to construct a unique social movement -the Union Pole of the Lower and Middle Sao Francisco- which defied and continues to defy local powerbrokers, drug traffickers, the Brazilian government and the World Bank. His murder has caused great pain and concern among social and environmental organizations of Brazil and Latin America.
But this is not the only case. As stated, above the International Secretariat sent messages to Brazilian authorities to express our concern over the situation of the social leaders Wigold Scaeffer and Miriam Prochnow, who have been menaced to death for their defense of the Mata Atlantica Rainforests. Menaces has been going on since last year and have increased lately to the point that it has made it impossible for them to carry on with their lives and normal activities.
Source: Beto Borges. Rainforest Action Network.