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Beto Ricardo

Region: South & Central America

Jean La Rose

A key leader in the Amerindian struggle for full rights to traditional lands, Jean La Rose coordinated the first indigenous land rights lawsuit in Guyana to protect streams, rainforests and endangered indigenous communities harmed by mining.

Oscar Olivera

A labor leader, Oscar Olivera advocated for affordable, clean water when the city’s water system was privatized. After a brutal crackdown, he emerged and continued protests and negotiations that forced the government to cancel the sale.

Oscar Rivas & Elías Díaz Peña

Elias Díaz Peña and Oscar Rivas cofounded Sobrevivencia to protect indigenous, marginalized communities and prevent developments that threaten Paraguay’s ecosystems and inhabitants.

Jorge Varela

Cofounder of a wetlands protection organization, Jorge Varela advocated for sustainable shrimping to protect ecosystems in the Gulf of Fonseca, where commercial shrimping destroys mangrove forests and poisons estuaries.

Berito Kuwaru’wa

Berito Kuwaru’wa waged a nonviolent international campaign calling on multinational oil companies not to drill in the isolated, traditional homelands of his U’wa people, who consider oil to be the blood of Mother Earth.

Juan Pablo Orrego

Juan Pablo Orrego led the campaign to protect the Bio Bío, one of South America’s last major free-flowing rivers and home to the indigenous Pehuenche people, from the destruction of massive multi-dam developments.

Marina Silva

A central figure in deforestation protests with the late Chico Mendes, Marina Silva helped establish a 2-million-hectare reserve managed by traditional communities.

Ricardo Navarro

Founder of the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology, Ricardo Navarro worked to restore El Salvador’s environment, decimated by 12 years of civil war.

Luis Macas

A Quichua from the Andes and president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, Luis Macas led a peaceful struggle for indigenous rights, including negotiating a 3-million-acre land transfer back to indigenous control.

Carlos Alberto Ricardo

Beto Ricardo has been a pioneer in advancing the links between human rights and environmental protection for over 25 years.