WEBVTT

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[sil.]

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[music]

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[sil.]

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Friends and supporters of Chico
Mendes gathered to remember him.

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At St. Peter\'s Church, his
letters are read aloud,

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letters about his beloved forest on butter\'s
that predicted to his own assassination.

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[music]

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The following quotations are taken from

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interviews with Chico Mendes, and a
letter written by him in November

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and December 1988. My dream is to see

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this entire forest conserved because
we know that it can guarantee

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the future of all the people who
live in it. I only want that

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my assassination will serve to put
an end to the immunity of the gunmen

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who are protected by the
federal police in Acre.

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If a messenger from the sky came
down and guaranteed me that

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my death would help to strengthen our
struggle, it would even be worth it.

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Experience teaches us the contrary.

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It\'s not with big funerals and manifestations
of support that we\'re going to save the Amazon.

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I want to live.

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How did Chico Mendes come to
write words of such despair.

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And how did he come to inspire so
much affection so far from home?

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[music]

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The state of Acre

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in the northwest corner of Brazil
is mostly primeval forests.

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Thousands of rubber tree tappers

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have lived and worked here for generations.
And for the last decade,

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their leader has been Chico
Mendes seen here in 1986.

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In Portuguese, he is called a
seringueiro, a rubber tapper.

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My father was a seringueiro.
I started at 9 years old.

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And for 20 years, I was a
full-time seringueiro.

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[non-English narration]

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There are over 100,000 seringueiros in Brazil
who still live this simple way of life.

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For generations, they\'ve extracted
latex from rubber trees

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by making only two cuts a week into the
tree trunk, they don\'t harm the trees.

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[sil.]

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Once when the price was higher for native
latex, rubber barons exploited old as forests.

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But when the price fell, they left the
forest and they\'re selling galas.

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[sil.]

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When these balls are smoked and hardened,
they will be sold to specialty buyers.

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In an average year,

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a seringueiro earns only about $1,200.

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They own a hut, the clearing around it, and
usually three trails through the forest

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each with 170 rubber trees. At that time,

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Chico Mendes\'s house was in a clearing just large enough to
feed a few cattle and to support his and his brothers families

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with basic crops. Like all
seringueiros, they grew their own food

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and extracted their cash
income from the forest.

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Chico Mendes was born here in 1944.

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He had no formal education. He began
organizing other rubber tappers

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in the early 1970s that\'s when
the land along this river

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was taken over by a large cattle ranch.

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The Bordon ranch had taken over nearly
100,000 acres of Virgin Forest.

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Much of it had been chopped
down and turned into pasture.

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Tomasz Kuwaiti who is Bordon\'s manager.

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And Chico Mendes principal opponent.

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We asked him, \"How many
cattle the ranch has?\"

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[non-English narration]

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[sil.]

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The trees are cleared when an operation
like Bordon needs grassland.

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The stumps and underbrush are bulldozed
and burned, so they can plant grass.

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[sil.]

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Many ranchers here have thousands of head of cattle, but the
grazing land is so poor that it takes roughly five acres of land

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to feed one animal.

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[sil.]

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This land is very degraded and
hardly any good for cattle.

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Many seringueiros lived around here. And
there were many valuable mahogany trees

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in addition to rubber and Brazil nut trees.

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Over the last 15 years, many big companies like
Bordon have acquired large parts of the forest

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to cut and clear.

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At the Bordon ranch, Chico Mendes and
his followers opposed the cutting

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with actions like this. The
seringueiros men, women, and children

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march into the jungle for
non violent confrontations,

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sometimes forming human barricades
in front of the chainsaws.

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Today they are about to confront
the Bordon wood cutting crew.

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They hope to talk them out of
cutting more of this forest.

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[non-English narration]

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Increasing the seringueiros\'s action

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slowed down the cutting in the forest, and
eventually the Bordon company gives up

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and sells its ranch in Acre.

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We\'ve just come out of a battle with
Bordon. There are other landowners.

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But for the first time we\'ve won a
victory against the Bordon group,

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the most powerful of the region.

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These people know the victory against Bordon
is only a small part of the struggle.

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There are many other powerful ranchers and
companies that want the seringueiros forest.

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And Chico Mendes knows that the
ranchers are only the first wave.

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He has seen what has happened in a neighboring
state Rondonia where the main road known as BR 364

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has carried thousands of
settlers into the jungle.

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[music]

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In the 1970s a Brazilian government in an
attempt to ease pressure for land in the south,

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encouraged hundreds of thousands of
landless farmers to migrate to the Amazon.

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[music]

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All expected large plots of land and a better
life for themselves and their families.

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[sil.]

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For these farmers their
first obvious task was

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to clear the land for planting.

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[sil.]

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After the trees were cut down

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and before the farmers could plant, the stumps,
underbrush, and everything else had to be burned.

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[music]

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Some of the largest fires and
recorded history was set,

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thousands of Rondonia rubber
tappers lost their forests.

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But the farms would fail in the sandy soil, the
migrants would move deeper into the forest.

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[music]

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There were few voices in Brazil

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speaking up against this devastation, one who did was
the Brazilian environmentalist Jose Lutzenberger.

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[music]

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Back in 1982, lust had taken us into
a seringueiros area in Rondonia.

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He had shown us the simple way of life the
seringueiros live in functional open-air houses.

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[music]

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Coexisting with the forest.

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[music]

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[sil.]

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This is one of the many ways of exploiting
the forest without demolishing it.

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And these people make a much better living, and
the much healthier living, and much nicer living,

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and then the worker in the
factory in the big city.

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But in Rondonia, the
seringueiros\'s simple lives

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would be overrun by the flood of colonists.

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[sil.]

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And so Jose Lutzenberger would begin a
decade-long struggle against further expansion,

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expansion that was the direct result

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of the construction and paving
of the main highway the BR 364.

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[music]

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The World Bank had helped
pay for the paving

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through Rondonia, and hundreds of thousands
of migrants had flooded the state.

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Chico and the seringueiros knew
it was only a matter of time

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before the road paving
would continue to Acre.

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[music]

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In 1986, Brazil asked the Inter-American
Development Bank in Washington

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for a loan for the Acre road.
We asked Chico about it.

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It\'s a threat to the
seringueiros and Amazonia,

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the government didn\'t consult

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the seringueiros or workers.

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We have not been invited to a single
meeting about the paving of this road.

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The road is being paved
for the big landowners.

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And so Chico decides to run

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for the legislature in Acre.

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Never has so much money been
spent on an Acre campaign.

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[sil.]

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The government party\'s main campaign contributions
come from ranchers and road contractors.

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[sil.]

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Chico Mendes party claims that

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votes are being bought outright with money
or with favors from the government.

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On Election Day, in Chico\'s hometown
the atmosphere is so charged

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with vote buying that many
people even ask Chico for money.

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Votes are selling for as
little as a few dollars.

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[non-English narration]

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[non-English narration]

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Although Chico wins the popular vote, his
party only gets 3% of the total vote.

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Chico loses, the government, the
ranchers, the road contractors win.

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But Chico was becoming

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increasingly powerful as an organizer.

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He was one of the founders of the
National Council of seringueiros.

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Over a series of meetings the
seringueiros developed an alliance

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with Brazil\'s Indians who were also
being threatened by the expansion.

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[sil.]

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And it was at these meetings Chico got to
know the environmentalist Jose Lutzenberger.

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Both Lutzenberger and Chico agreed that the seringueiros
needed what were called extractive reserves

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like Indian reservations or national
parks to protect their forests.

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It was Jose Lutzenberger who took the idea to
environmental groups in the United States.

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I\'m here on behalf of the
Brazilian environmental movement

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to introduce this alliance to
you, the Amazonian alliance

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of the people of the forest.
I hope that this alliance

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will help us to greatly strengthen
our campaign to defend Amazonas.

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So when the first pavement

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was laid on the highway back in Acre without
any measures to protect the environment.

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Chico appealed to his allies in the United
States, and then he took a daring step.

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For the first time,

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he went abroad, the Intercontinental
Hotel in Miami March 23, 1987.

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[non-English narration]

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The annual meeting of

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the Inter-American
Development Bank, the IDB.

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[non-English narration]

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The Environmental Defense Fund flies Chico
here to lobby the directors about the road.

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Our country is that are very
strong (inaudible) introduction

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in… in the landing of environmental… Chico appeals to
them to make their funding contingent upon a guarantee

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that extractive reserves will be created,
protected by the state against developers.

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(inaudible).

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(inaudible) I pick variety,

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a devotional song, I feel myth, and no…

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The (inaudible) in the
region is… is economically

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but nothing to leaves here.
Yeah. Umm… (inaudible).

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It\'s the only thing that\'s been
good for until now has been

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concentration of land (inaudible).

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I hope that the governments which give money to the
IDB, the people of the US, England, Japan, Europe,

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who contribute their
taxes to finance the IDB

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will listen to the seringueiros complaints.
Otherwise our forests will

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certainly be destroyed. A
week later in Washington DC,

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US support for the IDB
loan is being debated.

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And Chico Mendes is lobbying
his case around town.

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He\'s on his way to meet with Senator Robert Kasten, the
ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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[sil.]

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We\'re in a uh… committee markup right this
moment. And I just wanted to say hello to you,

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and we appreciate the help that you have been in. The
Appropriations Committee decides whether or not to release funds

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to multilateral banks like the IDB. I can promise
you that our subcommittee is gonna continue

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uh… to put pressure on the
IDB to withhold funds

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to cut off all funds possibly if
they are not more cooperative.

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Robert Kasten and Hawaii\'s Senator Daniel Annoye
have written a letter informing the bank that

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if it doesn\'t enforce the environmental causes in its
loan agreement with Brazil, US support for the bank

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could be withdrawn. I\'m happy
to be able to support…

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Months later when nothing has changed,
the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee

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takes a dramatic step to encourage
the Inter-American Development Bank.

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(inaudible) you and I have worked on,
specifically to focus on the Acre Road project,

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we were told that the borrower was to be given
60 days to bring the loan under compliance

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with the environmental provisions of the contract. It\'s now
almost four months since the subcommittee was informed that

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the loan would be suspended, the environmental
provisions still have not been fulfilled.

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And we made a major differentiation between the Inter-American
Development Bank and all the other banks today.

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And the fact that this Subcommittee on a
unanimous vote without any discussion

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or without any objection has taken
$200 million away from uh… the IDB.

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A request of 258 million,
we gave them only 58.

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Projects like the Acre project are… are simply
not acceptable. We\'re not gonna fund them.

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We\'re not gonna pay for them. And today is the first
step in terms of the Congress taking away the money.

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Almost immediately the
Inter-American Development Bank

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suspends payment on its Acre loan.

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So Chico\'s trip is a success.

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And it helps him get the attention
of the government back in Brazil.

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Here in Brazil\'s capital Brasilia,
elements of the government

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finally begin to pay serious attention to the seringueiros\'
demand that their lands be designated extractive reserves.

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[sil.]

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In this meeting the Seringueiro National Council manages
to get the commerce ministry to listen to its ideas.

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[non-English narration]

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Chico is making friends in
the national government.

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In 1988, Chico finally manages

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to stop nearly all deforestation
in his home region of Xapuri.

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But that leads to a showdown over this rubber
collecting area where Chico had spent his boyhood.

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[sil.]

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The Parana ranch has taken over

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the Bordon company\'s leading role in
the fight against the seringueiros.

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The owner is Darli Alves.

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Xapuri ranches have always had trouble

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with seringueiros blocking their
deforestation. Branches like Nava Esperanza,

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Filipinas, Bordon, the Bordon
ranch was sold very cheap

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for an area that size.

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They couldn\'t clear more forests, 4,000 cattle need a lot of
new pasture every year. And they couldn\'t deforest at all,

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so they had to sell.

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[non-English narration]

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Every time the ranchers tried to deforest,
they were blocked. In Xapuri, it\'s stalemate.

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And so Darli decides

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to provoke a confrontation. He buys rights
to the forest where Chico had grown up.

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The area is known as Seringal Cachoeira.

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Twenty years earlier, Chico had collected Brazil
nuts from his grove and rubber from these trees.

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[sil.]

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In Seringal Cachoeira, there
are 60 holdings like this one

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which would Chico\'s father\'s.

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If Darli is going to successfully deep forests the area, he
will have to drive out or buy up every one of those holdings.

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[sil.]

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So Chico returns home
to tirelessly organize

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Cachoeira\'s 60 families
isolated in the jungle.

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He feels it is essential that no single seringueiros be terrorized
into selling what his family has owned for generations.

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
And one isolated holding after another,

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
Chico states his case to the people.

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
He argues the seringueiros should hold together
so the government can legalize their holdings

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
by declaring Cachoeira
an extractive reserve.

00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
His actions work, but they
create intense tension

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
in a place where violence is already
commonplace Chico\'s hometown of Xapuri.

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
[sil.]

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
The ranchers gunman or Pistoleros
begin a reign of terror.

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
In 1987, nearly a hundred poor farmers
and their leaders were killed in Brazil.

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
Now in May of 1988,

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
they shoot up a peaceful seringueiros
demonstration and wound two boys.

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
One survives seven bullet wounds.

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
Chico tells us that on June 16th, the union
leader who was ambushed on the road into Xapuri.

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
[non-English narration]

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
And September, this woman\'s
husband was also murdered.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
We asked the widow who killed her husband?

00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
The gunman of the Parana ranch.

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
Before that they beat
him, had him arrested.

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
[non-English narration]

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
And when he came out,

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
they finally killed him
at 2 in the morning.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
As he was dying,

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
my husband said, \"My children.\"

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
And today they have no one to help.

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
[sil.]

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
The people attending these meetings, no, Chico has
already survived at least five attempts on his life.

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
And he\'s now being threatened by Darli.

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
[non-English narration]

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
So as he speaks in the fall of 1988, the
seringueiros watch him with increasing foreboding.

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
We are in immediate danger.

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
We\'re seeing people killed.
And there could be many more.

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
The Parana ranch is terrorizing

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
the whole population of Xapuri
to strike at me, a (inaudible)

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
and the whole Directorate
of our workers movement.

00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
We\'re on the blacklist.

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
The murders finally bring the minister of
agrarian reform to Acre. He meets with Chico

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
and the relatives of the murdered men. He then signs
decrees establishing several extractive reserves

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
including Seringal Cachoeira.

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
This takes 15,000 acres from Darli.
Then witnesses say,

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
he swears to kill Chico.

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
Now Seringal Cachoeira can never be sold.

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
[sil.]

00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
And as the seringueiros gathered to celebrate in
October of 1988, their success potentially threatens

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:45.000
the profits of all the ranchers and
other land speculators of Amazonia.

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
[non-English narration]

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
I would like to reflect on the path that led us
here. This has not been a bloodless journey.

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:30.000
Some have already fallen
defending extractive reserves.

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
No one likes to die. But if it has to happen,
then it should be to create more life.

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
Christ was crucified. He
gave his last drop of blood.

00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
But since that day millions of communities have
been born that believe and fight for Brotherhood

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
and so it should be for us.

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
[non-English narration]

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
The blood spilled in these recent days must
be the seed of a new liberty, a new light.

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
[non-English narration]

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
Chico is convinced that

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:20.000
he will soon be killed.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
[sil.]

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
As the festivities continue, Chico and the
seringueiros reflect on their victory.

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
[sil.]

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
But it\'s just the first step.

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
We need many more reserves. This victory
will inspire the conquest of others.

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
But it\'s just 1% of what is needed.

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:35.000
[sil.]

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
This moment with his family is
the last we recorded of Chico.

00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:08.000
[music]

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
[sil.]

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
Our three years

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
accompanying Chico from time to time and
placed a place ended in his house in Xapuri

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
three days before Christmas.
He was spending the evening

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
with two police guards
and his wife Ilzamar.

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
[non-English narration]

00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
Chico Mendes was playing dominoes with the two
police guarding him. When he took his towel

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
to take a shower, at the moment he
opened this door, they got him.

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
It was from here that he received
the shot in his right breast.

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
This was the only shotgun
pellet that missed.

00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
[non-English narration]

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
When he was shot, the police ran
leaving Chico Mendes alone.

00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
The police ran out the front.

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
Chico got here with his hands on his head.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
He fell here.

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
I thought they might come
in to finish him off.

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
[non-English narration]

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
A friend was the first to come

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
and Chico Mendes died in his arms.

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
[sil.]

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
Hundreds of mourners
come to Chico\'s funeral

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
from all over Brazil.

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
[sil.]

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
Since 1980, over a thousand poor farmers
and their leaders have been assassinated.

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
And since only three gunmen have
ever been brought to trial,

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
the killers were used to
getting away with it.

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:38.000
[sil.]

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
I promise before the blood

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
of our companion Chico Mendes to continue

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
his work

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
to show our enemies

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
that they will never succeed in silencing
the voice of the seringueiros.

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
Chico Mendes, wherever you are,

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
don\'t grieve

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
that they have silenced your voice.
Your ideas exist among us.

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
[non-English narration]

00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
Immediately, today, I am introducing,
and today is the first day

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
that we introduced legislation and Senate, a Senate
resolution condemning the murder of Chico Mendes.

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
It brought the painful knowledge.
An avalanche of protests

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
spread across the world. …were
actually hurting the people.

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
Francisco Mendes (inaudible) was shot dead Thursday night in his
house in Xapuri. December 22nd, Francisco Mendez was gunned down

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
in a remote city in the Amazon. Mr.
Mendez was shot dead outside his home

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
in northwestern Brazil on Thursday.

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
Then the federal police begin to
appear at the Xapuri police station.

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:23.000
[sil.]

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
When head of the federal police arrives in Xapuri
is confronted by uncooperative local officials

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:35.000
and angry seringueiros.

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:53.000
[non-English narration]

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
[sil.]

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
The specialists examine
the scene of the murder.

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
They are trying to determine from what
direction and distance the shotgun was fired.

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:23.000
[non-English narration]

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
In the yard they will find evidence
which local police have missed.

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:38.000
[sil.]

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
Under heavy guard police go to the
cemetery where Chico is buried.

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:58.000
[non-English narration]

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
Earlier the local police had
failed to order an autopsy

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
to examine the spread of the shotgun pellets which will
show the direction and the distance of the fatal blast.

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:18.000
[sil.]

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
The police issue a wanted
poster with a drawing of

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
the rancher Darci Alves as the
main suspect in Chico\'s murder.

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
Darci is hiding in the jungle
as the police start to bring in

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
his friends and the Parana ranchers gunmen.

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
[sil.]

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
A massive manhunt for Darci begins.

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
[sil.]

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
Finally one of Darli\'s 30 children
steps forward to confess.

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
The young man in the middle wearing a bulletproof
vest to protect him and carrying a gun

00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
to reenact the shooting is returned
to the scene of the crime.

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
But many of the townspeople believe the
son confessed to protect his father.

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
[sil.]

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
Soon after we ask Darci Alves

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
why he killed Chico Mendes.

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
My father bought us
seringueiro called Cachoeira.

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
When Chico Mendes heard, he tried to stop
my father going in and taking possession.

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:58.000
[non-English narration]

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
We talked to the government land office
and had it taken away from my father.

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
[non-English narration]

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
Afterwards he continued
making trouble for my father.

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
From Parana, he got a warrant
for my father\'s arrest

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
that\'s why I killed him.

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
Darli turns himself in.

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
We asked whether he had sent
his son to kill Chico Mendes.

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
I didn\'t send him. I am a humane person.
Even if I\'d had

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
the need over Chico Mendes, no family man
would send his son to do the killing.

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
Soon after Darci withdraws his confession.
And his brothers continue

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
to maintain the family\'s innocence.
But at the ranch,

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
a young boy who has spent seven years there,
comes forward to tell us and the police

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:10.000
a horrific tale about Darli.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:30.000
[sil.]

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
[sil.]

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
And the police investigation at the Parana ranch is
uncovering evidence that Darli may have been paid

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
to have Chico killed.

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
We\'ve opened an inquiry parallel to the murder
case to investigate whether they were financiers

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
behind the murders such as
the ranchers UDR party.

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
Isn\'t there a witness

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
called Albertine or Chavez who says that the Samuel
and brokers arranged a meeting to collect $50,000

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
to kill Chico? This witness has been
ordered to testify next week in Xapuri.

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
February of 1989,

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
the trial begins. Darci and his
son Dottie are brought to court.

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
They both deny any
involvement in the murder.

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
Here Darci says, he does not recognize
a holster found in Chico\'s yard.

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
[sil.]

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
Meanwhile despite repeated murder threats,

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
Ilzamar and other seringueiros maintain
their vigil outside the courthouse.

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
They thought they killed Chico Mendes.

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
They didn\'t because he\'s alive in
each seringueiro, in each worker

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
who fights for a better society to protect the
environment of the forest. Chico Mendes is alive

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
in each of us.

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
[sil.]

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
Chico is reburied.

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:48.000
[sil.]

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:25.000
In the nearly two years in Chico\'s
death, much has changed in Brazil,

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
[non-English narration]

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
The seringueiros continued their campaign

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
for extractive reserves and strengthened
their alliance with the Indians.

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
[non-English narration]

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
In the Xapuri courthouse, the case against
the man accused of murdering Chico

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
is being contested stage by stage by
Darli and his son Darci\'s lawyers.

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
[sil.]

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
But Darci and his brother (inaudible) have already been
sentenced to 12 years for an earlier attempted murder of

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
two seringueiro boys.

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
[non-English narration]

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
1989 was an election year, one of the
candidates for the presidency of Brazil

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
shaking hands in the center was
one of Chico\'s friends Luba.

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
[sil.]

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:40.000
Chico became a symbol at
the rallies of the left.

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:05.000
Chico\'s name was also invoked in speeches.

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:18.000
[non-English narration]

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:25.000
Lula was opposed by the heavily favored
candidate of the right Fernando Collor.

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
[non-English narration]

00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
The election was closer than
expected, Collor won by only 5%.

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:53.000
[music]

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
So far as president, he has
surprised many in Brazil.

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
One of his earliest surprises

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
was to name the outspoken Jose Lutzenberger,
secretary of the environment.

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
Collor hopes a tough environmental stand

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
will improve Brazil\'s
image internationally.

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
Lutzenberger\'s first major action was to get
President Collor to stop the paving of the BR 364

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
through the rest of Chico
Mendes state of Acre.

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
You realize that… that would mean
tremendous devastation in the remaining

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
uh… rain forests that have not
yet been crossed by this road.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
And also it would open the Amazon
to the Asiatic Timber Trade.

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
So the road we had watched devastate
Rondonia and threatened Chico\'s forest

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:05.000
was finally stopped.

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
Then in July at the economic summit in Houston,
the group of the world\'s seven richest nations

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
who couldn\'t agree on much else, did agree that they
welcomed the change of environmental policy in Brazil

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
and offered their help.
The effort was led by

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, he\'s
Minister of Information is Hans Klein.

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
The new president in Brazil makes things a bit easier, it\'s very
cooperative, very interested, very sober about the problem.

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
Umm… As about 62% of the
entire tropical rainforest

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
situated in Brazil, this may
be the right thing to do well

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
to assist Brazil to fight

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
the further destruction of tropical rainforest
which has taken gigantic dimensions

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
in recent years. Chancellor
Kohl is very aware

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
of this uh… danger not only
to Brazil but to mankind.

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
We are united on the goals and
measures to be taken now,

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
particularly in relation to climate change

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
and the protection of forests.

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
To begin work immediately

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
on developing a pilot project to
address tropical deforestation

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
in Brazil to commence negotiations
on a global forest convention

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
or agreement to curb deforestation,

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
promote biodiversity, and encourage

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
sound forestry practices. In August,
part of Chico\'s dream was fulfilled.

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
The Brazilian government agreed to
establish over 50 million acres

00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
of extractive reserves
in the next five years.

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
Secretary Lutzenberger and the
seringueiros signed the documents.

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:13.000
[sil.]

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
And today while all the ranches Chico
fought retained their pasture.

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
Their hinterland of uncut forest has been taken
away to create the vast two million acre

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
Chico Mendes reserve.

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
These forests and a way
of life are now safe.

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
Stopping the annual
incineration of Amazonia

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
was Lutzenberger\'s next challenge.

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
[music]

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
During the decade millions of acres of
the rainforests have gone up in smoke.

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
These fires and the scar they left

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
on what was once virgin forest had first drawn the
world\'s attention to the devastation of Brazil.

00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
Now to stop it,

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
Lutzenberger decided to use
the latest technology.

00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
During the burning season of
August and September of 1990,

00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
satellite photography recorded the fires in the
Amazon and telex their exact location daily

00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
to Brazil\'s forestry police.

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:38.000
[music]

00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
The police would fly in
and levy massive fines.

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:58.000
[sil.]

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
As we traveled with the police throughout
the month, it became clear that

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
while deforestation was still happening. It
wasn\'t nearly on the scale of past years.

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
And when he looked away from
the fire, the air was clearer.

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
There was much less smoke haze.
On September 15, 1990,

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
Lutzenberger announced the fires had been
reduced by 65% since their peak in 1987.

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
That is now a definite reversal of trends.

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
In the past, we had a exponential curve with
increasing devastation. And now it\'s a downward curve

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
in a very steep one.

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[music]

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We had witnessed environmental destruction

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on an incomprehensible scale. The
century\'s worst environmental disaster,

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now it seems Brazil and the world
have stepped back in horror

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at what has been done,
bowing not to continue

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the decade of destruction.

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The decade of destruction by
Adrian Cowell is published by

00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:10.000
Henry Holton company and is available
in libraries and bookstores nationwide.