Environmental Activists, Shot And Killed In Brazil

While TEPCO execs fumble with their nuclear catastrophe, environmental activists are murdered for their struggles against corporations and the rape of planet earth.

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From http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Jose Claudio Ribeiro Da Silva And Maria Do Espirito Santo Da Silva, Environmental Activists, Shot And Killed In Brazil

"Rubber tapper Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife were ambushed by gunmen Tuesday in an interior city in the jungle state of Para in northern Brazil, police said. Authorities were investigating the crime and no arrests had been made.

The Catholic Land Pastoral, known as CPT, a watchdog group that tracks violence against environmental activists, said more than 1,150 activists, small farmers, judges, priests and other rural workers have been killed in disputes over preserving land since the 1988 murder of Brazil's renowned rain forest protector Chico Mendes.

Most of the killings go unpunished, especially in the Amazon region where there is little government presence and where local governments are easily swayed by powerful loggers, ranchers and farmers who illegally clear forest to make way for more crop and pasture lands.

Federal prosecutors say the violence usually is ordered by rich producers who contract gunmen to kill anyone standing in their way."