Pedro Alcantara de Souza (died 1 April 2010) was a Brazilian
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
activist operating in the state of
Pará
Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...
.
He was shot dead on April 1, 2010.
Souza was a farmers' union president, and city councilor of
Redenção. In 2008, 20 killings have been relate to land issues in the
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
.
Death and aftermath
De Souza was shot in the head five times by two men on motorcycles while he was riding his bicycle on the outskirts of the town of
Belém
Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...
. The assassination occurred shortly after the trial of a man accused of masterminding the killing of another
rain forest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...
activist in 2005. The activist
Dorothy Stang
Dorothy Mae Stang (June 7, 1931 – February 12, 2005) was an American-born Brazilian member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She was murdered in Anapu, a city in the state of Pará, in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Stang h ...
was an American
nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
was shot and killed in 2005.
Watchdog groups say that conflicts between powerful ranchers and poor farmers over land rights have led to 1,200 murders across Brazil in the last 20 years.
See also
*
List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of u ...
References
2010 deaths
Assassinated activists
Assassinated Brazilian politicians
Brazilian activists
Deaths by firearm in Brazil
Male murder victims
People murdered in Brazil
Unsolved murders in Brazil
Year of birth missing
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