HomeNewsBriefActivist Murder Adds to Death Toll in Brazil Amazon
BRIEF

Activist Murder Adds to Death Toll in Brazil Amazon

BRAZIL / 15 JUN 2011 BY TUULA PERRY EN

A peasant activist was murdered in Para state, in Brazil's Amazon, in the latest of a spate of apparent hired killings which some have linked to land conflicts.

Obede Loyla Souza was shot dead outside his home in the settlement of Esperanca on Saturday.

Campaign group the Pastoral Land Commission (Comissão Pastoral da Terra - CPT) reported that the victim had been involved in a dispute with representatives of timber companies which were illegally cutting trees in the area.

The CPT also said that, on the day of the killing, locals had seen a van with tinted windows entering the village.

Police said that the murder was not connected to land conflicts.

Less than a month previously, two environmental activists were murdered in Para, in what police said appeared to be a hit ordered by logging companies. A witness to the murder was killed, along with another man, also, seemingly, by hired gunmen.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 8 DEC 2021

Three FARC dissident commanders have become the first people to be charged with criminal deforestation under a new law aimed…

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 2 JUN 2022

Peru – rich in biodiversity – is a hotspot for the wildlife trade. Reptiles, fish and birds are all trafficked…

COLOMBIA / 15 SEP 2021

While not as lucrative as illegal mining, wildlife trafficking is still a multimillion-dollar business.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…