In the late 1970s, Chico Mendes, a pioneer in environmental protection, defended the Amazon rainforest and native populations.

• Two handwritten letters signed by Chico Mendes to two journalists.
• First letter. One page (front). In Portuguese. 20 cm x 28 cm. Xapuri, April 28, 1978. Good condition. conservation. Unique piece.
  
• Second letter. One page (front and back) + Envelope. In Portuguese. 20 cm x 29.5 cm. Xapuri, February 3, 1980. Average condition. conservation. Unique piece.
  

1st letter | "For truth cannot be defeated"

Xapuri

April 25, 1978

Dear Friend John,

I hope these lines will find you enjoying perfect happiness together with your worthy wife Renata.

Look, João, things are going that way around here. A few days ago I was almost sued because the judge of this district was angry with me because of a statement I made criticizing the lack of justice in our municipality. I was even summoned to appear in his office, but things went back to normal. Because the truth cannot be defeated.

Look, I ask you to send me some news from there. Because I'm completely out of date here. Tell me how the political situation is there.

Look, tell Renata that when you boarded the police officer got angry because she took a picture of us and he was leaning against me and asked me who you were. I replied, "You're my friends who came to visit me." He even said he would tell you to get off the bus, if it weren't for my interference.

Here I end with all the best for you. Good luck in your work. These are my wishes. [?] Hugs

Councilman Francisco Mendes Jr.

2nd letter | “Days later he swore he would shoot me 6 times in the head”

Xapuri, on 3 - 02 - 80

Dear friend João, and Renata

Look, I don't know if you received a letter I wrote to you over a year ago and never got a reply. Today I happily met Roberto and Marineide, your friends. It was a great pleasure.

Look João, things are getting busier around here, the union movements are gaining ground more and more, the workers' movement is much better, we have already achieved some victories here, this year everything indicates that it will be very busy, some conflicts in some areas may possibly occur but we hope that the workers are well prepared to defend their lands and so the people of Acre are starting to feel ashamed, and are already starting to appear in the world news.

Look at the politicians here, they are real parasites who only [?] have their own personal interests. Last year, my own opposition colleagues in my party denounced me and accused me of being subversive and that I was mobilizing workers for an armed struggle. Have you ever thought that the opposition is now with the disguised openness, but we are together with the few authentic ones organizing the popular front, an organization created within the PMDB. The [?] of the MDB, this organization has as its objective [?} only those who are committed to the popular struggles in its ranks.

I have been facing serious problems with the federal police for a few months. I was subjected to several hours of interrogation, but in the meantime the fight continues. I am holding monthly meetings with rural workers. Claudio is always by my side. Now we have great support from our comrades from Rio Branco who have recently arrived from the South.

Look, I have a lot of things to tell you, but time is short. I'm going to a meeting in the interior with Roberto and the Marines. They'll tell you better how things are going here.

Look, send me your address because I want to send you some newspapers that talk about our journey here. Comrade, we hope you come here any time, we need people like you to help us with something.

Look, that day when you boarded the bus to travel, the police chief came up to me and asked who these guys were? I replied, "They're students, my friends." He then said, "I should arrest them right now." At that moment, Renata took a picture of him and he was standing next to me. A few days later, he swore to shoot me six times in the head until we managed to get a petition with hundreds of signatures against him. So they transferred him to Rio Branco.

Comrades, here I conclude by wishing you all the best.

A socialist hug comrade

Councilman Francisco Mendes

Chico Mendes was a pioneer in the defense of the Amazon, the environment and sustainable development

From a modest social background, Chico Mendes (1944 - 1988) was the son of farmers who worked in latex production in Acre. He learned to read, an exceptional feat in this region, and began to campaign against the construction of the Trans-Amazonian highway, dams, deforestation and the introduction of cattle, back in the 1970s. These practices resulted in the persecution of indigenous tribes and had catastrophic consequences for the Amazon ecosystem.

In his life as an activist, Mendes helped found the National Council of Rubber Tappers. In 1987, he traveled to the United States to meet with members of the World Bank. He proposed stopping the construction of highways and creating nature reserves to protect the flora of the Amazon rainforest and the Amerindian tribes. That same year, he received the Global 500 award from the United Nations and also won the Better World Society Award, created by CNN's Ted Turner.

Like other Brazilian activists – such as Wilson Pinheiro, who was killed in 1980 – Chico Mendes was murdered on December 22, 1988, in Xapuri (Acre). In 1990, landowners Darcy and Darly Alves da Silva were convicted of the murder and sentenced to nineteen years in prison.

After his death, several million hectares of Amazon rainforest were declared "extraction reserves" in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. He inspired UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Programme and GREENPEACE, whose member Paul McCartney paid tribute to him on his album Flowers in the Dirt, with the song How Many People, written in 1989.

Thirty-six years later, Chico Mendes’ daughter is trying to take up her father’s fight. Elenira studied administration and natural resource management. She denounces that in the extractive reserves created by her father, the inhabitants still have difficulty living with dignity and that: “those who, back then, destroyed the forest, continue to do so.”

The first defender of the Amazon rainforest, known as the 'lungs of the planet', Chico Mendes had a global impact: environmental preservation became one of the world's main concerns. These two letters are exceptional.