22 DECEMBER 28 JAAR GELEDEN WERD DE LEIDER VAN DE RUBBERTAPPERSBOND IN ACRE, BRAZIL VERMOORD IN ZIJN STRIJDT TEGEN GROOTGRONDBEZIT EN VERNIETIGERS DER NATUUR...
![](http://blogimages.seniorennet.be/brazil/1990289-7fdc1a630c238af0815181f9faa190f5.jpg) On the evening of Thursday, December 22, 1988, Mendes was assassinated in his Xapuri home by Darci, son of rancher Darly Alves da Silva. The shooting took place exactly one week after Mendes' 44th birthday, when he had predicted he would "not live until Christmas". Mendes was the 19th rural activist to be murdered that year in Brazil. Many felt that although the trial was proceeding against the actual killers, the roles of the ranchers' union, the Rural Democratic Union, and the Brazilian Federal Police in his death was ignored.
In December 1990, Darly Alves da Silva, his son Darci, and their ranch hand, Jerdeir Pereira, were sentenced to 19 years in prison for their part in Mendes' assassination. In February 1992, they won a retrial, claiming that the prosecution's primary witness (Chico's wife) was biased. The conviction was upheld, and they remained in prison. In 1993, they escaped from jail, along with seven other prisoners, by sawing through the bars of their prison window. All were recaptured, including Darly Jr., who served the remainder of his sentence with the other killers before returning to Xapuri.
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