Lethal violence against environmental advocates in remote regions of Latin America has continued apace, with two such murders this month—one in Brazil, the other in Colombia. The victim in Brazil, killed on Nov. 1, was Paulo Paulino Guajajara, a leader of Guardians of the Forest, an inter-tribal group that conduct patrols to detect illegal land seizures in an Amazon-region indigenous reserve in the state of Maranhão. Two main tribes inhabit the reserve—the Guajajara and the Awá-Guajá, both of which are represented in the Guardians. The Guardians monitor for intrusions in the 4,130-square-kilometer (1,595-square-mile) Arariboia indigenous reserve. Federal Police said Guajajara was shot dead by illegal loggers who ambushed him. Though Guardians typically are armed only with bows and arrows, Guajajara and another group member wounded during the ambush had been carrying rifles because they were hunting. In the exchange of gunfire... [Log in to read more]