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Fight for the Forest 2nd Edition

Fight for the Forest 2nd Edition

Chico Mendez

(1992)

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Abstract

"They would have to kill us all to destroy our movement and they can't. I don't get that cold feeling anymore. I am no longer afraid of dying."-Chico Mendes, November 1988 Chico Mendes, the charismatic founder of the Brazilian rubber tappers union, was murdered by a hired assassin on 22 December 1988. As a trade union leader, he won international acclaim for his role in the non-violent campaign to protect the Amazon rainforest, on which the rubber tappers depend for their livelihood. In Fight for the Forest, Chico Mendes talks of his life's work in his last major interview conducted just weeks before his death. He recalls the rubber tappers' campaign against forest clearances and their struggle to develop sustainable alternatives for the Amazon. In this edition, environmental lobbyist Tony Gross, expert on Amazonian affairs and a friend of Chico Mendes, follows the trial, conviction and release of Chico's assassins and examines Brazil's environmental policy under President Fernando Collor de Mello.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Table of Contents v
Map of Brazil vi
Map of Acre vii
Biography viii
Stop! ix
Introduction 1
The History of Rubber 9
The Life of a Rubber Tapper 12
1. First Lessons 17
2. Learning to Fight 31
3. Building Bridges 43
4. The Landowners Strike Back 59
5. Working Together 71
6. The Future 81
Epilogue 85
Footnotes 105
Glossary 108
Brazil in Brief 111
Chronology — Acre 112
Chronology — Brazil 114
Further Reading 116