In response to the brutal murder of Yalorixá and Quilombola leader Bernadete Pacífico

Statement of Repudiation from the CLACSO Steering Committee

On the night of August 17, 2023, she was brutally murdered in her community. Maria Bernadete Pacific, 76 years old, quilombola leader of the Quilombo Pitanga dos Palmares, in Bahia, and coordinator of the National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Black Quilombola Communities (CONAQ), an organization linked to Via Campesina International and which is the current coordinator of Via Campesina Brazil.

Known as Mama Bernadete e Yalorixá, Bernadete Pacífico was the former Secretary of Racial Equality of Simões Filho, Bahia, and an active voice in the defense of quilombola popular culture, for the recognition of quilombola territories and a symbol of resistance against racism, religious intolerance and for racial equality in Brazil.

The brutal murder of Bernadete Pacífico is not an isolated incident. The historic struggle for human rights and territorial defense in Brazil is marked by the assassinations of popular leaders who dedicated their lives to confronting real estate speculation and the offensives of mega-projects that encroach upon the territories of quilombola communities, Indigenous peoples, peasants, riverine communities, and other rural populations.

The CLACSO Steering Committee expresses its solidarity with CONAQ in the face of this brutal crime and joins the voices of grassroots organizations in Brazil against the violence and harassment in their territories. We also join in the demands for a thorough investigation to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

We condemn all forms of violence and racial inequality and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to racial equality and social justice throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

CLACSO Steering Committee
August 18th, 2023