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🇰🇷 South Korea /Energy & Infrastructure

Nuclear Tests and the Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • Fernando Pereira was a conscientious objector who fled Portugal to avoid fighting in colonial wars.
  • He later became a photographer documenting the impact of nuclear testing in the Pacific for environmental groups.
  • Pereira died in 1985 when the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed by French agents in protest of nuclear tests.

Fernando Pereira, a Portuguese photographer and conscientious objector, died in 1985 while documenting French nuclear testing in the Pacific. He had fled Portugal to avoid fighting in colonial wars and later found a cause with environmental activism.

Pereira joined the crew of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, which was en route to protest French nuclear tests in the Mururoa Atoll. In a covert operation called "Operation Satan," French secret agents planted bombs on the ship in Auckland, New Zealand. The explosion sank the Rainbow Warrior, killing Pereira, who had returned to retrieve his camera.

French agents were arrested in New Zealand, but France initially denied involvement. Despite international condemnation and a trial that resulted in prison sentences for the agents, they were returned to France after two years. France apologized and compensated New Zealand but not Pereira's family.

The bombing galvanized Greenpeace, leading to increased global support and strengthening New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance. Pereira's death became a symbol of the fight against nuclear proliferation and environmental destruction.

DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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