The life of Raimundo Rodrigues da Silva, known as Brechó, ended on February 25, 2014, when he was ambushed by gunmen in the conflict area, located in the Municipality of Timbiras, Maranhão state.  However, after the attack, he was taken to the hospital, but, unfortunately, he didn’t survive.

Raimundo had been threatened before, a fact which was shown on a report published by Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) in 2012. Additionally, sources state that the leader was threatened on more than one occasion. Even at the hospital there was staff to take care of Brechó’s security, which resulted in his inclusion in the protection programme for human rights defenders.

The prominent leader was well known for his commitment to the struggle for land rights in the community called Campestre-Alegria. There have been many recent conflicts in this area, and at the time of the report,  there were lands which should have been granted to 350 (three hundred fifty) families, however, this didn’t happen.

According to information from “CPT” at the time of  the report an inquiry had been started. Nevertheless, Brazilian police didn’t link the Raimundo’s death with the lands conflicts.