{"id":14185,"date":"2025-08-28T14:20:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T12:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.prif.org\/?p=14185"},"modified":"2026-01-09T09:22:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T08:22:50","slug":"violence-against-social-activists-in-the-brazilian-amazon-the-role-of-deforestation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.prif.org\/en\/2025\/08\/28\/violence-against-social-activists-in-the-brazilian-amazon-the-role-of-deforestation\/","title":{"rendered":"Violence Against Social Activists in the Brazilian Amazon: The Role of Deforestation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brazilian Amazon is a dangerous place for social activists, particularly those who fight for land rights and environmental protection. In our recent study, published in the Journal of Peace Research, we find that high levels of deforestation are strongly linked to the assassination of activists. We argue that this is due to the highly territorialized nature of this criminal practice, which involves dispossessing local communities of their land. This violence is driven by local criminal political networks protecting illegal profits as well as local authoritarian orders underpinning them. It poses serious threats to local civic spaces, democratic participation, and environmental protection.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ongoing violence against social activists in the Brazilian Amazon has raised alarm across civil society, policy circles, and international organizations. Between 2006 and 2019, at least 490 activists were assassinated across the 772 municipalities that make up Brazil\u2019s Amazon region (Amaz\u00f4nia Legal). These killings are not random acts of crime, but rather politically charged attacks targeting individuals who defend land rights, the environment, and the livelihoods of local communities. Understanding the causes and mechanisms behind this violence is crucial for designing effective protection strategies while also addressing underlying structural factors.<\/p>\n

The Amazon region is shaped by a complex interplay of criminal actors, foreign and domestic corporations, and local elite networks that compete for control over land and resources. Our research distinguishes two criminal economies that fuel violence in the region: drug trafficking and large-scale deforestation. While both generate violence, they differ in their spatial and social logic. Drug trafficking networks in the Amazon region primarily require territorial access to trafficking corridors rather than territorial control or (dis)possession. This often leads to violent turf wars among criminal groups. However, these conflicts do not necessarily pit these groups against local communities.<\/p>\n

In contrast, large-scale deforestation represents what we call a highly territorialized criminal practice. It involves the physical clearing of forested land, frequently through violent dispossession of small farmers, indigenous communities, and environmental defenders on the part of local criminal-political networks. Typically, deforestation starts with logging of valuable timber, followed by land clearing via uncontrolled fires, before the land is illegally appropriated, registered through fraudulent means and finally used for large-scale pasture or agriculture. These practices often provoke resistance on the part of local communities, movements and NGOs. Local criminal-political networks respond to this resistance with targeted killings of activists.<\/p>\n

In this TraCe Policy Brief, we briefly summarize the key findings from a study published by the authors in the Journal of Peace Research. For further publications on the topic of violence against social activists from TraCe, see Box 1.<\/p>\n

Box 1: TraCe Research on Violence against Social Activists<\/div>
\n

The patterns, dynamics, and causes of violence against social activists in the contemporary world constitute an important topic that is investigated by scholars in the Research Center \u201cTransformations of Political Violence\u201d (TraCe).<\/p>\n

In the TraCe Working Paper 3\/2024 \u201cTargeted Violence Against Social Activists\u201d, Juan Albarrac\u00edn and Jonas Wolff review existing data and research on the characteristics, causes, and transformations characterizing the overall phenomenon. Download: https:\/\/www.trace-center.de\/fileadmin\/DatenTrace\/Publikationen\/2024_Working_Paper_3.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In TraCe Policy Brief 4\/2024 \u201cFrom Internet Shutdowns to Personal Harassment\u201d, Laura Guntrum and Christian Reuter examine the spectrum of digital violence against social activists\u201d. Download: https:\/\/www.trace-center.de\/fileadmin\/DatenTrace\/Publikationen\/TraCePB2404_Digital_Violence.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

Key findings<\/h2>\n

Our study (see Box 2) employs a mixed-methods approach combining a statistical analysis of municipal-level data with an in-depth case study of Altamira. Altamira is the largest municipality in Brazil and is located in the state of Par\u00e1 (see map). Using data on social activist assassi\u0002nations, deforestation rates, drug trafficking proxies, and other socioeconomic indicators, we uncover a consistent pattern: activist assassinations are strongly associated with high deforestation rates but not with drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

Quantitative analysis shows that municipalities experi\u0002encing deforestation rates at or above the annual median are more likely to witness activist killings. The strongest effects appear in the first three years after deforestation intensifies. These delayed effects suggest that the pro\u0002cess of territorial expansion by criminal groups creates sustained conflict over time, culminating in targeted vio\u0002lence against social activists<\/p>\n

\"Map
Map: Brazil\u2019s Amazon Region and the Municipality of Altamira, Par\u00e1. Source of the map: https:\/\/d-maps.com\/m\/america\/brazil\/bresil\/bresil21.svg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To make sense of this pattern, we distinguish between three levels of territorialization that characterize illiciteconomies in the Brazilian Amazon and beyond. In some cases, illicit economies merely require (1) territorial access. Transnational drug trafficking, for instance, typ\u0002ically requires access to certain routes and areas (e.g. ports) to move products. This often pits rivaling crimi\u0002nal groups against each other but does not necessarily imply conflict with local communities. In the case of (2) territorial control, activities like coca cultivation, local (retail) drug trade, or extortion rackets usually come with the need for criminal groups to establish some kind of rule over a territory and at least part of the population. In particular, this implies the need to establish governance of territorial access. This can lead to conflicts with local communities and, hence, high levels of violence. However, as we discuss in the theory section of our study (see Box 2), territorial access can also involve more cooperative relations paired with low levels of violence.<\/p>\n

This is different in the case of (3) territorial dispossession. Here, the illicit activity \u2013 as in the case of large-scale deforestation \u2013 requires criminal groups to seize control of physical space and resources in a way that deprives communities of land, property, and\/or means of survival. In response, communities as well as local organizations and movements that support land and environmental rights are practically forced to resist, which is why con\u0002frontation and violence is all but predetermined. At the same time, large-scale deforestation and other forms of territorial dispossession require protection and active cooperation from state actors like police officers, nota\u0002ries, judges, and politicians. This facilitates the impunity that characterize most of the assassinations of activists, in Brazil\u2019s Amazon region, but also beyond.<\/p>\n

Box 2: The study<\/div>
\n

This TraCe Policy Brief summarizes findings from a comprehensive study analyzing 490 social activist assassinations across 772 municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon (Amaz\u00f4nia Legal<\/em>) from 2006 to 2019. Employing advanced statistical methods and a qualitative case study on the municipality of Altamira, the study sheds light on the spatial and temporal dynamics of political violence linked to criminal economies. The findings contribute to broader debates on criminal governance, socio-environmental conflict, and the repression of civil society actors in democracies in the Global South.<\/p>\n

For more details, see: Juan Albarrac\u00edn, Rodrigo Moura Karolczak, and Jonas Wolff (2025): Violence against civil society actors in democracies: territorialization of criminal economies and the assassination of social activists in Brazil. Journal of Peace Research<\/em>, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/00223433251347784<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study is being published as part of a special issue of the Journal of Peace Research on \u201cPolitical Vio\u0002lence in Democracies\u201d. The special issue comprises 14 articles, studying longstanding democracies in the world\u2019s most democratic regions, examining diverse forms of violence, covering ethnic, criminal, electoral, and terrorist violence. For more information, see: https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/home\/JPR<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

The municipality of Altamira vividly illustrates these dynamics. Despite its dual status as both a site of intense deforestation and a drug trafficking hub, activ\u0002ist assassinations are not related to drug trafficking. The latter is concentrated in Altamira\u2019s urban center and is accompanied by general homicides and violent dis\u0002putes between organized criminal groups. Instead, the targeted killings of activists occur almost exclusively in the municipality\u2019s high-deforestation zones, spatial\u0002ly distant from drug trafficking corridors. As we show in our study, these killings are closely linked to resistance against land grabbing, illegal logging, and environmental destruction. In fact, eight of the ten cases registered in Altamira between 2002 and 2020 occurred in the Castelo dos Sonhos district, characterized by high deforestation rates. These cases concerned local land activists resist\u0002ing land grabbers\u2019 logging of public lands and unlawful\u0002ly occupying smallholder land. The two remaining cases can also be traced back to socio-environmental conflict: One victim was the municipal secretary of environmental affairs, the other a rural workers\u2019 leader.<\/p>\n

The case of Bartolomeu Morais da Silva (known as Bras\u00edlia) exemplifies how criminal-political networks wield lethal violence to protect their territorial control and profits. Bras\u00edlia was a leader of the rural workers\u2019 union (Sindicato dos Trabalhadores Rurais de Altamira), a mem\u0002ber of the Workers\u2019 Party (PT) in Castelo dos Sonhos and a well-known activist denouncing land grabbing, defor\u0002estation, and corrupt local authorities. In 2002, he was brutally tortured and murdered by armed men serving loggers and land grabbers known as the Mafia de Castelo. Still, his murderers were not convicted, and the crime\u2019s masterminds were never prosecuted.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

The assassination of social activists in the Brazilian Ama\u0002zon is a multifaceted problem rooted in territorial strug\u0002gles between criminal-political networks and local com\u0002munities. Our research highlights how large-scale defor\u0002estation \u2013 as a highly territorialized criminal practice \u2013 drives lethal violence aimed at silencing resistance, reaping illicit profits, and preserving de facto structures of criminal-political governance.<\/p>\n

This form of violence has serious implications for dem\u0002ocratic regimes: as the assassination of individual activ\u0002ists both weakens the targeted organizations and com\u0002munities and has broader chilling effects, it significantly limits civic space and undermines local democratic pro\u0002cesses. Notably, as our analysis suggests, these politi\u0002cal implications are not unintended by-products of pure\u0002ly profit oriented criminal activities. The assassinations must be considered as instances of repressive violence aimed at sustaining local orders shaped by criminal\u0002political networks.<\/p>\n

Addressing this violence demands multifaceted policy responses that simultaneously address the manifest con\u0002flicts and the underlying causes of the assassinations. First, measures aimed at improving environmental protec\u0002tion need to prioritize preventing large-scale deforestation and tackling the expansion of illegal mining, another illic\u0002it practice increasingly associated with violence in many parts of the Amazon region. Second, state institutions as well as foreign investors, corporations and development agencies should recognize, respect and help guaran\u0002tee the collective land rights and the self-governance of local communities. Third, and related, local civic spaces need more effective protection. Both governments and international cooperation can do more to support grass\u0002roots activists and their communities by providing rapid response in cases of threats. Fourth, efforts of political reform at the local level should aim at dismantling criminal\u0002political networks. Fifth, criminal justice reform is need\u0002ed to strengthen the independence and capacity of law\u00a0 enforcement agencies and thereby address the problem of impunity. Finally, the root causes of this violence need to be addressed. This requires national and international efforts at reducing the incentives of territorial disposses\u0002sion by transforming a global model of economic devel\u0002opment that depends on large-scale resource extraction and depletion.<\/p>\n

Without such integrated efforts, violence against social activists in the Brazilian Amazon region (and elsewhere) can be expected to intensify. Amid climate change and the continued expansion of resource extraction in the Global South, pressures on forested land and other nat\u0002ural ressources will continue to grow. Understanding and disrupting the territorial logic of anti-activist violence, therefore, is more urgent than ever.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: This Blog was first published as a TraCe Policy Brief<\/a> and is based on the article \u201cViolence against civil society actors in democracies: Territorizalization of criminal economies and the assassination of social activists in Brazil<\/a>\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

Acknowledgment from the authors: ChatGPT (https:\/\/chatgpt.com<\/a>) was used at an early drafting stage of this TraCe Policy Brief to help summarize the underlying study and provide structuring assistance. The final text is our own.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Brazilian Amazon is a dangerous place for social activists, particularly those who fight for land rights and environ\u0002mental protection. In our recent study, published in the Journal of Peace Research, we find that high levels of deforesta\u0002tion are strongly linked to the assassination of activists. We argue that this is due to the highly territorialized nature of this criminal practice, which involves dispossessing local communities of their land. This violence is driven by local criminal\u0002political networks protecting illegal profits as well as local authoritarian orders underpinning them. 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