Chico mendes biography brevenable

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Mendes's father was among the few tappers who could read, and he passed the knowledge on to his son. They cut and burned rainforest land and displaced rubber workers and other natives. This marriage lasted a brief two years because his devotion to the cause of the tappers kept Mendes away from his family.

Education

In the rainforest, there were no schools, and Mendes harvested latex full time by the time he was eleven years old.

The rubber barons who owned the plantations feared an uprising over the inhumane working conditions and prohibited the workers from learning to read, in order to perpetuate ignorance. It did not take long for the new owners and government agents to come into conflict with the indigenous tribes and the rubber tappers.

In this context, the leadership of Chico Mendes appears, who starts to denounce illegal occupation, arson and deforestation.

Tributes

• In 1987, Chico Mendes was the first Brazilian to receive the UN Global 500 Award, which recognizes the personalities that fight for the environment.
• Several cities in Brazil have named parks in honor of the rubber tapper leader.

  Among people deceased in 1988, Chico Mendes ranks 47. He ended up being murdered on December 22, 1988, in the back of his house.

  The criminals were Darci Alves da Silva and his son Darly Alves Ferreira, later sentenced to 19 years in prison. The pair regularly left home before sunrise. In one of his last interviews, Mendes said: "We organized 45 empates.

  Mendes received no formal education. After him are Paulo Mendes da Rocha (1928), Pepe (1935), Deco (1977), Princess Francisca of Brazil (1824), Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior (1943), and Machado de Assis (1839).

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