At the center of deforestation and land conflicts in Brazil, one small-scale farmer has seen the personal cost to her family and community of speaking up. Her son went into hiding to escape death threats.
Maria Marcia Elpidia de Melo hasn't seen her son Elmiro for more than six months. The community leader, from an agrarian settlement in Brazil's Amazonian state of Para, has been an outspoken critic against land-grabbing in the area. Last year, her 20-year-old son was beaten and received death threats by unknown assailants — and so she sent him into hiding.