Cicero Guedes, Brazilian Landless Leader is Murdered in Rio · Global Voices
Paula Góes

One of the main leaders of the landless movement in Brazil was shot dead on Saturday as he was cycling home in Rio de Janeiro state. Publishing a picture he took of Cicero Guedes, Marcos Pedlowski [pt] emphasises that “the loss is not only human, but deeply political. Besides being an exemplary man, husband and father, Cicero embodied the best qualities that true leaders must have”. According to the Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), the number of land activists threatened has jumped from 125 to 347 between 2010 and 2011.