Three hundred loggers from Porto de Moz in the Amazon surrounded our ship, the MV Arctic Sunrise, earlier this week. Local forest activists were also threatened.
Greenpeace has been exposing illegal logging in the region. Prior to the attack, we discovered a barge full of illegal logs in a remote riverside harbour. Activists painted "Crime" on 6,000 cubic metres of logs.
Inspectors from Ibama, the Brazilian Environmental agency, are also currently active in the region. Some of the inspectors were trapped in their hotel last week when they were surrounded by hundreds of armed loggers.
Read more about how the violence unfolded.
Greenpeace has a 30-year history of non-violent protest, while the loggers in this region have a history of violence and death threats. The situation is still highly dangerous.
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Article tagged as: amazon, forest crime, forests, illegal logging, press releases
