Neither her age—80 years old—nor her status as a maraya (“wise woman,” as she was known in Peru) were enough to stop whoever shot Olivia Arevalo Lomas five times and killed her last Tuesday in Yarinacoa. She was a teacher and environmentalist, well known in the Ucayali region for fighting to defend the cultural rights of the Shipibo-Conibo community.
According to a 2017 study by Global Witness/The Guardian, 197 people were killed in Latin America in recent year for opposing governments and businesses that are plundering their land and damaging the environment through corruption and iniquitous dealings.
