AMERICA/BRAZIL - Violence in the rural area increases, yesterday the memory of Dorothy Stang’s testimony

Monday, 13 February 2017 missionary institutes   martyrs   environment   violence  

Anapu (Agenzia Fides) - Families of farmers from Anapu in the south of Pará (Brazil), yesterday February 12 gathered to commemorate the death of Sister Dorothy Stang which happened 12 years ago. The nun was killed because of her fight for the poor of the region (see Fides 15/02/2005).
The communities where Dorothy worked asked for a fair agrarian reform and to stop the increasing deforestation of the area (see Fides 16/02/2015).
Sister Dorothy Stang, 73, born in the United States of America, of the Congregation of Notre Dame, was killed on the morning of February 12, 2005 with six shots fired in a location 40 km from the town of Anapu, in the western region of the state of Parà.
Today the number of murders resulting from rural conflicts in 2015 has exceeded the number in the last 12 years in Brazil, with 49 deaths recorded, mostly in the northern region, according to the note of Brazil's PMS. However, these data are still partial and may even increase. "Last year the number of deaths due to conflicts in the country was the highest since 2003: 73 murders. The north of the country is the most affected area", said the head for the compilation of data for the Pastoral Commission of Lands (CPT).
The increased tensions in the country in 2015 is linked to greater competition for resources such as wood and water, activities for energy extraction. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 13/02/2017)


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