Who Killed Chico Mendes? The Legacy, Murder, and Ongoing Fight for the Amazon

The life, assassination, and enduring impact of Chico Mendes on Brazil’s Amazon and global environmentalism.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 27, 2025

The life, assassination, and enduring impact of Chico Mendes on Brazil’s Amazon and global environmentalism.

Who Was Chico Mendes?

Chico Mendes—born Francisco Alves Mendes Filho in 1944 in Xapuri, Acre, Brazil—was much more than a rubber tapper. He became an emblematic figure in environmental activism, labor rights, and the fight for social justice in the Amazon. His unwavering advocacy for both nature and the people who depended on it continues to reverberate worldwide.

Occupation: Rubber tapper, union leader, and environmental activist
Main cause: Protection of the Amazon rainforest and the rights of traditional forest-dwelling communities
Famous quote: “At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.”

Mendes’ life story is inseparable from the social and ecological turmoil of late 20th-century Brazil, when aggressive deforestation, industrial development, and land conflicts upended Amazonian landscapes and societies.

The Roots of Mendes’ Activism

Born into an impoverished family of seringueiros (rubber tappers), Chico Mendes grew up extracting latex from Hevea brasiliensis trees—practicing a traditional, sustainable livelihood dependent on the rainforest’s health. By the 1970s, however, vast tracts of forest were being cleared for cattle ranching and mining, driven by both government policies and private enterprise. These activities encroached on the lands of rubber tappers and indigenous people alike, threatening both their livelihoods and the Amazon itself.

1970s-1980s: Deforestation and violent land conflicts escalate, displacing both plants and people.
Community building: Mendes helped organize unions of rubber tappers and allied their cause with that of indigenous peoples and rural workers.

The “Empate”—Peaceful Resistance in the Amazon

The core innovation of Chico Mendes and his colleagues was the “empate”—a form of peaceful protest unique to the Amazon:

Empate defined: Large groups of unarmed men, women, and children would position themselves nonviolently between encroaching loggers, ranchers, and the forest, blocking bulldozers and chainsaws with their bodies.
Impact: From 1976 to 1988, more than 45 empates took place. While many were met with violence and only some resulted in immediate victory, these protests galvanized local solidarity and drew national and international attention to the Amazonian struggle.

These empates not only delayed deforestation but also helped form a resilient network of activists and defenders of the forest, laying the groundwork for broader campaigns.

Birth of the Extractive Reserves

One of Mendes’ most lasting contributions was the concept of extractive reserves (Reservas Extrativistas or “Resex”). These are protected areas where local communities are allowed to sustainably harvest resources from standing forests, thus protecting their way of life while safeguarding biodiversity.

1985: National Council of Rubber Tappers inaugurated; Mendes and allies advocate for legally recognized extractive reserves.
Core idea: People can live from the forest, and with the forest, without destroying it.
Result: Following Mendes’ murder, the Brazilian government established the first extractive reserves, enshrining the principle of sustainable, communal use in Brazilian law.

Today, dozens of extractive reserves exist across Brazil, protecting millions of hectares of forest and supporting thousands of families.

Chico Mendes: Alliance Builder and Global Symbol

Mendes’ activism extended far beyond the rubber tapper community:

Forging alliances: Mendes brought together not only rubber tappers and indigenous peoples but also national and international environmental organizations.
Global recognition: He traveled worldwide, was awarded the United Nations Environmental Program Global 500 Roll of Honor in 1987, and inspired a generation of activists.
Key partnerships: Notably joined forces with indigenous leader Ailton Krenak and helped create the Forest Peoples Alliance, a coalition defending the Amazon’s diverse peoples and ecosystems.

Mendes became a bridge between local struggles and the global environmental movement, showing that the fate of the rainforests was intertwined with issues of social justice, economics, and humanity as a whole.

The Cost of Activism: Threats and Assassination

While Mendes’ stature grew internationally, threats to his life accumulated in Brazil.

Death threats: Powerful ranchers and land developers, threatened by his advocacy and the legal advancements of sustainable reserves, openly targeted Mendes.
Impunity and violence: By the 1980s, dozens of organizers and unionists in the Amazon had been killed; most cases were marked by impunity.

On December 22, 1988, Chico Mendes was assassinated at his home in Xapuri. The murder was quickly traced to a local rancher, Darly Alves da Silva, and his son Darcy, whose land was affected by Mendes’ push for forest reserves.

Who Killed Chico Mendes? Unpacking the Assassination

The assassination of Chico Mendes shocked Brazil and the world—not only because of his high profile but for what it exposed about ongoing violence, corruption, and lawlessness in the Amazon:

Immediate aftermath: Public outcry prompted rare legal action—both Darly and Darcy were eventually tried and convicted for the murder.
Underlying causes: Mendes’ murder was the result of a toxic mix of land disputes, weak law enforcement, and resistance to reform in Brazilian rural society.
Persistence of violence: Over the decades since Mendes’ death, at least 1,000 environmental defenders have been murdered in Brazil alone, demonstrating the enduring dangers faced by activists in the region.

The specifics of the plot—the intimidation, contract killing, and complicity—are well documented. Yet Mendes’ assassination is emblematic of a broader, systemic problem where economic interests frequently override justice and human rights.

Legacy: The Enduring Impact of Chico Mendes

Despite his tragic death, Mendes’ legacy is indelible and far-reaching:

Establishment of extractive reserves: The first reserves were created in the early 1990s, now numbering more than a hundred, protecting huge swathes of Amazonian forest and benefiting thousands of people.
Inspiration for new policies and programs: Mendes’ example helped inspire Brazilian environmental programs such as the Pilot Program for the Conservation of Brazilian Rainforests, the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA), the National Biodiversity Plan, and new land use and conservation laws.
Institutional recognition: The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) is now Brazil’s primary agency for managing federally protected areas.
Ongoing influence: Mendes continues to serve as a touchstone for environmental and social campaigns worldwide, his life regularly cited as an inspiration for both grassroots activism and policy innovation.

Table: Key Milestones in Chico Mendes’ Life

Year	Milestone	Impact
1944	Birth in Xapuri, Acre	Began life as a rubber tapper
1975	Helped organize Rubber Tappers’ Union	Launched collective action against deforestation
1985	National Council of Rubber Tappers founded	Elevated the socio-environmental agenda nationally
1987	Received UN Environmental Honor	Gained international recognition
1988	Assassinated in Xapuri	Galvanized global attention to Amazonian conflicts
1990 onwards	First Extractive Reserves established	Enduring protection for people and forests

The Amazon: Still Under Threat

Mendes’ murder prompted international scrutiny, the creation of memorial reserves, and strengthened laws, but the conflict between economic interests and environmental justice is ongoing:

Continued deforestation: Pressures from agroindustry, mining, and illegal land grabs persist.
Frequent violence: Dozens of environmental activists are killed in Brazil each year.
Global implications: The Amazon’s fate is crucial to the world’s climate, biodiversity, and indigenous cultures.

The challenges Mendes confronted remain as urgent as ever, making his legacy both inspirational and a call to ongoing action.

What We Can Learn from Chico Mendes Today

Interconnected struggles: Social and environmental justice cannot be separated. Protecting the forest means safeguarding its people, and vice versa.
Grassroots power: Real change often starts with local actors organizing in innovative ways.
International solidarity matters: The global outcry over Mendes’ death pressured authorities to act and continues to drive environmental advocacy.
Ongoing vigilance is necessary: The fight for the Amazon is continuous, requiring active engagement from civil society, governments, and the international community.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What was Chico Mendes’ main achievement?

His guiding innovation was the development of extractive reserves, which protect both forest and local communities by allowing sustainable use of resources.

Who killed Chico Mendes and why?

Mendes was killed by Darly Alves da Silva and his son Darcy, ranchers whose interests were threatened by Mendes’ activism for forest reserves and indigenous rights.

What impact did Chico Mendes’ death have?

His assassination galvanized international attention, led to policy changes, and accelerated the creation of extractive reserves in Brazil, making his death a turning point for environmental activism.

Are extractive reserves still important in Brazil today?

Yes, they remain vital for biodiversity conservation and the well-being of traditional communities, although these areas still face threats from illegal land seizures, logging, and political shifts.

How is Chico Mendes remembered?

He is honored through awards, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, and continued reference in global campaigns for environmental justice and forest protection.