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Chapter 6 A Little about My Friend Chico Mendes Iam not writing a biography of Chico Mendes, first because I believe he himself would not like this to be done—especially by me or any friend—since it would prove we hadn’t understood any of what he taught us. For him, the most important thing was the struggle, the organization , the union, the party, his comrades, and he always considered himself as one more worker.That’s how it was when he received the two international awards—in his very brief remarks,he said he was receiving recognition in the name of the rubber tappers as their representative, because such prizes were for them, not him. Furthermore,it won’t do any good to ask;I’m not ready to look for biographical information. I remember my friend. I want to remember him as he was: a rubber tapper, a union man, a political activist, an environmentalist, a fantastic human being who succeeded in seeing and accomplishing a great deal ahead of his time. It was he who discovered he could combine union work, the empates, with environmentalism, and thus gain important allies in central-southern Brazil. It was he, the PT activist, who perceived that on environmental issues, it was important to ally with the Green Party,1 where he found good and important friends. To speak of Chico Mendes is first to speak of an ordinary man. He was a real rubber tapper, though some try to deny this. He was an environmentalist , although he did not internalize this concept at first but smoked cigarettes like a bandit.He knew he was wrong about this,he recognized it,but he said he couldn’t manage to stop—even when the doctor in Brasília told him during a check-up if he didn’t give it up immediately, he was running a great risk. Since he couldn’t stop smoking, even when encouraged by colleagues who also smoked and stopped to encourage him, he said he was already involved in this business of risking his life, so he wouldn’t stop smoking. Walking the Forest with Chico Mendes 122 Many times I was after him to stop smoking,but he just couldn’t do it.He had been hooked on cigarettes since he was seven years old.This unfortunately happens to the majority of the rubber tappers’ sons who go out to “wait.”That is,when the rubber tappers go out hunting,usually at night,they set up a blind in the trees until game appears.At night there are an enormous number of mosquitoes, so the rubber tappers light cigarettes to repel them. That’s when they get addicted. Chico Mendes was one of these, and that’s why in many photographs he is shown smoking.This might seem like a contradiction for an environmentalist, but he recognized that he wasn’t perfect, as he said, although he admitted that this fact was no excuse. As an ordinary man, Chico Mendes loved to play dominoes and cards, always wagering something, however little. He did not play for free, because, according to him, it was no fun.Although he bet, I saw him lose money he couldn’t afford to lose—and God knows, he always had very little—but only on very rare occasions. I don’t know if he was an excellent player or very modest.One time,I remember well,at Pedro Rocha’s house,Chico spent the whole night playing cards with other comrades, losing very little and winning often. He always played with great confidence. Playing cards was, let us say, his favorite recreation, but usually he didn’t have much time for it, especially during the short time I knew him—three years—because at that time he was always traveling to help organize the National Rubber Tappers’ Council and spread the ideas and proposals of the First National Meeting of Rubber Tappers. Recently somebody told me a recent arrival in Acre had said to several friends at their country place that he would like to see the Chico Mendes Park in Rio Branco and Chico Mendes’s house in Xapuri. Immediately one of those present retorted that Chico Mendes was a “drunk” and was nothing like what the person had heard about him outside Acre. First: I knew and spent time with Chico Mendes for three years. I know he was an ordinary man and never insisted on being...

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