Antônia Melo
Antônia Melo da Silva (* 1949 in Piripiri , Piauí , Brazil ) is a Brazilian human rights activist and environmentalist.
Your fight is directed against the construction of the third largest dam in the world, Belo Monte.
Live and act
Antônia Melo was born the fourth of thirteen children in the state of Piauí. When she was four years old, the family moved to Altamira , Pará state .
The fight of various groups against the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River began early . In 1989, Melo founded the Movimento Xingu para viver organization , now the Movimento Xingu Vivo Para Semper (MXVPS), as an umbrella organization to fight against construction. Above all, demos, vigils and petitions were used to try to stop the project, which did not succeed. To do this, she brought Indians and fishermen together at one table. Instead, it earned her the loss of belongings, character assassination campaigns, and death threats. The effects on the region and nature cannot yet be assessed; numerous national and international media reported on Melo's commitment.
In 2010 she came to Germany for a conference . In 2018 a documentary was made about the movement, in which Melo is also interviewed: "Count Down on the Xingu River - Raubzug nach Amazonien", Germany, 2018, by Martin Keßler.
She is the mother of five children and lives in Altamira.
For her commitment to the rights of indigenous people, she received the Alexander Soros Prize of the US Alexander Soros Foundation in 2017 ( Alexander Soros Foundation Award for Environmental and Human Rights Activism ).
Web links
- Christian Russau: Fight against Belo Monte: Antônia Melo by Xingu Vivo para Semper honored with human rights award . October 12, 2017 ( taz.de ).
- Antonia Melo wins the Alexander Soros Foundation Prize. In: aswnet.de. Retrieved August 2, 2018 .
- Maira Irigaray: Voices of the Xingu: Antonia Melo, Amazon Warrior . In: Amazon Watch . February 13, 2014 ( amazonwatch.org ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Interview: Belo Monte: a luta pela vida e pela cultura. Entrevista especial com Antonia Melo. In: unisinos.br. Instituto Humanitas Unisinos - IHU, accessed on August 2, 2018 (Brazilian Portuguese).
- ^ Brazilian Environmental Activist Receives Alexander Soros Foundation Award. In: alexsoros.com. Retrieved August 2, 2018 (American English).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Melo, Antônia |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Silva, Antônia Melo da; Melo, Antonia |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Brazilian human rights activist and environmentalist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Piripiri , Piauí , Brazil |