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Masters of the lost land : the untold story of the Amazon and the violent fight for the world's last frontier

Araújo, Heriberto, author

Overview

\"Deep in the heart of the Amazon, the city of Rondon do Pará, Brazil, lived for decades in the shadow of land barons, or fazendeiros, who maintained control of the region through unscrupulous land grabs and egregious human rights violations. They razed and burned the jungle, expelled small-scale farmers and Indigenous tribes from their lands, and treated their farmhands as slaves--all with impunity. The only true opposition came from Rondon's small but robust farmworkers' union, led by the charismatic Dezinho, who fought to put power back into the hands of the people who called the Amazon home. But when Dezinho was assassinated in cold blood, it seemed the farmworkers' struggle had come to a violent and fruitless end. What no one anticipated was that this event would bring forth an unlikely hero: Dezinho's widow. Against great odds, and at extreme personal risk, Maria Joel, now a single mother of four young children, used her ingenuity and unwavering support from union members to bring her husband's killer to account in court. Her campaign gained unexpected momentum, helping to bring international attention to the dire situation in Rondon, from Brazil's president Lula to international celebrities and civil rights groups. Maria Joel's fight for justice had far-reaching implications: it unearthed a chilling world of corruption and lawlessness rooted in Brazil's quest to turn the largest rain forest on earth into an economic frontier. As more details came out, it began to look increasingly likely that Dezinho's killer, a reluctant and inexperienced gunman, was just one piece of a larger criminal consortium, with ties leading all the way up to one of the region's most powerful and notorious fazendeiros of all.\" -- inside front jacket flap.

• Publisher: Mariner Books, HarperCollins Publishers
• Subject: Environmental degradation Brazil Pará (State) / Deforestation Brazil Pará (State) / Environmental protection Social aspects Brazil Pará (State) / Farmers Violence against Brazil Pará (State) / Land tenure Brazil Pará (State) / Murder Brazil Pará (State) / Environnement Dégradation Brésil Pará (État) / Déboisement Brésil Pará (État) / Environnement Protection Aspect social Brésil Pará (État) / Agriculteurs Violence envers Brésil Pará (État) / Meurtre Brésil Pará (État) / Deforestation / Ecology / Environmental degradation / Environmental protection Social aspects / Land tenure / Murder / Pará (Brazil : State) Environmental conditions. / Pará (Brésil : État) Conditions environnementales. / Brazil Pará (State)
• ISBN: 9780063024267, 0063024268, 9780063024274, 0063024276

Item info:

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Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
GE160.B6 ARA	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE