This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS RIO DE JANEIRO 000353 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EPSC - ALLEN 
STATE PASS EPA FOR CAM HILL-MACON AND S.HOFFMAN 
STATE FOR OES/PCI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SENV TBIO TSPA SOCI BR TIP
SUBJECT: Brazilian Police Arrest Suspect in Environmentalist's 
Death 
 
Ref:  Rio de Janeiro 00308 
 
¶1.  Brazil's Federal Police arrested hunter Leonardo de 
Carvalho Marques, who shot environmentalist Dionisio Julio 
Ribeiro Junior in the head with a shotgun on February 23 in 
the Tingua Natural Reserve in Nova Iguacu.  Ribeiro Junior 
had spent fifteen years of his life defending the Reserve 
from illegal wildlife trade and illegal exploitation of palm 
trees and other plants.  Leonardo confessed to the crime, 
but did not convince public security authorities that he 
acted alone.  Environmentalists in the area claim that the 
crime was planned deliberately by a group of hunters, palm 
cutters, animal traders, and perhaps some corrupt employees 
of the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA).  Police 
located Leonardo through an anonymous tip ("Disque- 
Denuncia", a police hotline to denounce crimes). 
 
¶2.  Federal Police and public security authorities said the 
police would continue investigating the case because they 
believe Leonardo may have been a hired hit man. Leonardo 
said he killed Ribeiro Junior because the environmentalist 
was constantly reporting the illegal activities of hunters 
in the Tingua Reserve to IBAMA.  The environmentalist's 
various accusations helped the police to confiscate several 
guns in recent years, including five shotguns belonging to 
Leonardo. 
 
¶3.  According to the police, Leonardo was raised in the 
Tingua Reserve area.  Besides being a hunter since the age 
of seventeen, Leonardo also helped in illegal palm tree 
cutting to extract the hearts of palm in the region.  Police 
suspect that he also sold tropical birds and animals to 
local restaurants.  Federal Police received several 
complaints about these allegations and will start an 
investigation. 
 
¶4.  Leonard also confessed to killing a woman and burying 
her body in the Reserve.  He told the police he caught the 
woman trying to break into his house and killed her.  The 
police do not believe this and will pursue an investigation 
into this crime as well. 
 
¶5.  The GOB has created a task force consisting of members 
of IBAMA, Federal and Civil Police and State Military Police 
to investigate the main complaints made by Ribeiro Junior: 
illegal palm cutting to extract the hearts of palm, hunting 
of tropical birds and animals, illegal exploitation of sand 
(for construction work), and irregular land occupation of 
the protected area.  They intend to start working this week. 
The Brazilian Environmental Ministry will contribute Reais 
60,000 (approximately USD 23,000) to fund the work. 
 
¶6.  Two representatives of Ribeiro Junior's NGO "Grupo de 
Defesa da Natureza" (Nature Defense Group) are in Brasilia 
to speak to the Ministry of Justice and the Congress, to 
demand permanent occupation of the Tingua Reserve by 
appropriate governmental forces. They agree that the GOB 
task force will help, but they claim only a continuous 
police presence will guarantee protection of the 
environmentalists in that region and the delicate ecosystem 
in the Reserve. 
 
¶7.  COMMENT:  An official from NGO Justica Global told us 
that the main problem IBAMA has been facing for some time is 
the lack of personnel to inspect protected areas.  IBAMA is 
the government organism responsible for this oversight and 
estimates that Brazil has one inspector for every 37,000 
hectares of protected area.  Prior to Ribeiro Junior's 
assassination, the 27,000-hectare Tingua Biological Reserve 
had four inspectors.  In the wake of Ribeiro Junior's 
murder, the Federal Government via IBAMA announced that 
seven more environmental agents will be assigned to the 
State of Rio de Janeiro, but did not indicate if any would 
be assigned to the Reserve. 
 
ATKINS