“Corporations respond in a sad and unfair way to the resistance. They want to silence the people, to eliminate the resistance”, warned the activist.

The members of AHOMAR, Almir Nogueira de Amorim and Joao Luiz Telles Penetra (Pituca) disappeared on June 23rd. Their bodies were found two days later in the coast of Bahia de Guanabara. The two fishermen and human rights activists had been murdered.

Three years ago, two leaders of AHOMAR were murdered as well, but the crime is still unpunished. AHOMAR was created in 2009 to defend the rights of artisanal fisherfolk of Rio de Janeiro, especially those affected by a refinery and oil pipeline of Brazilian company Petrobras in Bahia de Guanabara.

The large companies don’t want to know anything about the resistance, said Campos in an interview with Real World Radio, only hours after finding out that Nogueira and Telles had been murdered. “They don’t want human rights protection, represented by AHOMAR, to be an example for other movements and communities”.

With reference to this, the position of Friends of the Earth Brazil is clear. “AHOMAR is a fundamental organization and the work they carry out is excellent”, and it is important to uphold their denunciations and join their work, said Campos.

Environmentalist federation Friends of the Earth International and other social organizations visited several places from June 15-17 in Rio de Janeiro, before the UN conference, to warn activists and the media about the impacts of corporations in Guanabara and Sepetiba Bays.

The activities of companies such as Petrobras, Brazilian mining company Vale and German steel company ThyssenKrupp have brought to the area cases of serious allergies, respiratory problems, nose bleedings, the appearance of pests, obstacles on the activities carried out by artisanal fisherfolk, displacement of people and attacks against social leaders.

Thousands of artisanal fisherfolk families live in Guanabara and Sepetiba and many of these workers are leading the resistance against large projects. The people have repeatedly denounced the threats, attacks and murders they have been suffering for three years.
According to AHOMAR the attacks are perpetrated by people linked to extermination groups, security forces hired by the companies of the area and armed groups that operate in the region.

In the interview with Real World Radio, Campos regretted the human rights violations and the attacks against the territories by large corporations in Sepetiba and Guanabara. He denounced the companies that advertise themselves as sustainable while they are accused of serious crimes. “No more silence” demanded Campos. “The denunciations against human rights violations cannot be negotiated”, he added and demanded a thorough investigation about the people responsible for the murders and that the legal system acts accordingly.

The Brazilian environmental activist complained about the fact that the murders of Nogueira and Telles were covered by part of the local media as consequences of the conflicts among the population. And he added that this is also the case when peasants are murdered. “It is a common practice of capital to criminalize these communities as if these were internal conflicts. The truth is that this people (the fisherfolk of Bahia de Guanabara) are located in a disputed territory, with a documented environmental conflict, registered by the University.” “The deep and strong interests of the state company in the region cannot be hidden and this community is an obstacle for the company”, concluded Campos.