Professor Renato Nathan, a comrade and great supporter of the peasant struggle, was assassinated by gunmen of the civil police on April 9, 2012 at age 28. Born to a poor peasant family and outraged by all injustices he saw, he dedicated his life to the revolutionary fight alongside peasants, workers, students, and teachers.
Renato taught in schools and worked as a topographer in many peasant areas. He actively participated in rural peasant efforts to transform devastated land into places full of families, production, houses, schools, and businesses. He helped organize the peasants to construct roads and bridges and to defend them against the persecutions of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA).
Renato also helped organize Popular Assemblies, which the inhabitants use to decide important matters. He stood steadfast against injustices, fighting against corruption, exposing opportunists, and denouncing the electoral farce of the old state. He mobilized the public to boycott elections and supported resistance against evictions.
After Renato’s assassination, popular and revolutionary movements in Brazil proclaimed April 9 as the Day of the Brazilian People’s Heroes in his honor. His wife Ludmila was also a committed revolutionary who spent her life fighting for the peasants’ right to land, bravely resisting threats of eviction and attacks of all kinds with the other peasants. She struggled with illness due to the poor healthcare system, and struggled more after Renato’s murder. She died shortly after, also at the age of 28.
We honor the memory of Renato Nathan and all popular activists and leaders who have fallen in the struggle for the defense of rights of the people in the countryside and in the cities of Brazil. Professor Renato Nathan and Ludmila live on as true heroes of the Brazilian people and examples of revolutionary spirit!
Renato Nathan, present in the fight!
Renato Nathan, presente na luta!
