Deforestation and the construction of the Belo Monte dam
are destroying the Amazon, Earth's lung
Between May 2000 and August 2005, Brazil lost more than 132,000 square kilometers of forest - an area larger than Greece - and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed.
In addition to deforestation, the construction of the Belo Monte dam consists another, serious threat for the Brazilian Amazon.
The Belo Monte dam will be the third-largest dam in the world and is one of the Amazon's most controversial development projects. The Belo Monte dam complex dates back to Brazil's military dictatorship and the government has attempted to build it through various series of national investment programs including Brasil em Ação and the Program to Accelerate Growth. Original plans to dam the Xingu have been greenwashed through multiple public relations programs over the course of two decades in the face of intense national and international protest.
In order to feed the powerhouse of the Belo Monte dam complex, up to 80% of the Xingu River will be diverted from its original course, causing a permanent drought on the river's "Big Bend," and directly affecting the Paquiçamba and Arara territories of the Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples. To make this possible, two huge canals 500 meters wide by 75 km long will be excavated, unearthing more land than was removed to build the Panama Canal. Belo Monte's two reservoirs and canals will flood a total of 668 km2 of which 400 km2 is standing forest. The flooding will also force more than 20,000 people from their homes in the municipalities of Altamira and Vitoria do Xingu.
In addition to deforestation, the construction of the Belo Monte dam consists another, serious threat for the Brazilian Amazon.
The Belo Monte dam will be the third-largest dam in the world and is one of the Amazon's most controversial development projects. The Belo Monte dam complex dates back to Brazil's military dictatorship and the government has attempted to build it through various series of national investment programs including Brasil em Ação and the Program to Accelerate Growth. Original plans to dam the Xingu have been greenwashed through multiple public relations programs over the course of two decades in the face of intense national and international protest.
In order to feed the powerhouse of the Belo Monte dam complex, up to 80% of the Xingu River will be diverted from its original course, causing a permanent drought on the river's "Big Bend," and directly affecting the Paquiçamba and Arara territories of the Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples. To make this possible, two huge canals 500 meters wide by 75 km long will be excavated, unearthing more land than was removed to build the Panama Canal. Belo Monte's two reservoirs and canals will flood a total of 668 km2 of which 400 km2 is standing forest. The flooding will also force more than 20,000 people from their homes in the municipalities of Altamira and Vitoria do Xingu.
Belo Monte dam marks a troubling new era
in Brazil’s attitude to its rainforest and its people
Belo Monte is just one of a dozen giant dam projects Brazil plans to build in the Amazon region in the coming decades and opens up the world’s largest tropical rainforest to oil and mining exploration
Introduction
The Belo Monte Dam (formerly known as Kararaô) is a proposed hydroelectric dam complex on the Xingu River in the state of Pará, Brazil. The planned installed capacity of the dam complex would be 11,233 megawatts (MW), which would make it the second-largest hydroelectric dam complex in Brazil and the world's third-largest in installed capacity, behind the Three Gorges Dam in China and the Brazilian-Paraguayan Itaipu Dam. However, guaranteed capacity generation from the Belo Monte Dam would measure 4,571 MW, 39% of its maximum capacity. Transmission lines would connect electricity generated by the dams' turbines to the main Brazilian power grid, which would distribute it throughout the country, both for public consumption (up to 70%) and as a dedicated power plant for industries such as mining and mineral transformation (up to 30%). However, there is opposition among the international community to the project's potential construction; regarding its economic viability, generation inefficiency, and impacts to the region's people and environment. In addition, critics worry that construction of the Belo Monte Dam could make the construction of other dams upstream with greater impacts more viable and possible.
Plans for the dam began in 1975 but were soon shelved due to controversy; they were later revitalized in the late 1990s. In the 2000s, the dam underwent new designs, renewed controversy and impact assessments. On 26 August 2010, a contract was signed with Norte Energia to construct the dam once the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) had issued an installation license. A partial installation license was granted on 26 January 2011 but construction was blocked by a federal judge on 25 February. On 3 March, that decision was overturned by a higher court allowing preliminary construction to begin. The license to construct the dam was issued on 1 June 2011.
Project history
Plans for what would eventually be called the Belo Monte Dam Complex began in 1975 during Brazil's military dictatorship, when Eletronorte contracted the Consórcio Nacional de Engenheiros Consultores (CNEC) to realize a hydrographic study to locate potential sites for a hydroelectric project on the Xingu River. CNEC completed its study in 1979 and identified the possibility of constructing five dams on the Xingu River and one dam on the Iriri River.
Original plans for the project based off of the 1979 study included two dams close to Belo Monte. These were: Kararaô (called Belo Monte after 1989), Babaquara (called Altamaria after 1998) which was the next upstream.
Four other dams were planned upstream as well and they include the Ipixuna, Kakraimoro, Iriri and Jarina. The project was part of Eletrobras' "2010 Plan" which included 297 dams that were to be constructed in Brazil by 2010. The plan was leaked early and officially released in December 1987 to an antagonistic public. The plan had Belo Monte to be constructed by 2000 and Altamaria by 2005. Such a speedy timetable was due to the belief that Brazil's relatively new environmental regulations could not stop large projects.
The government offered little transparency to the people who would be affected regarding its plans for the hydroelectric project, provoking indigenous tribes of the region to organize what they called the I Encontro das Nações Indígenas do Xingu (First Encounter of the Indigenous Nations of the Xingu) or the "Altamira Gathering", in 1989. The encounter, symbolized by the indigenous woman leader Tuíra holding her machete against the face of then-engineer José Antonio Muniz Lopes sparked enormous repercussions both in Brazil and internationally over the plans for the six dams. As a result, the five dams above Belo Monte were removed from planning and Kararaô was renamed to Belo Monte at the request of the people of that tribe. Eletronorte also stated they would "resurvey the fall", meaning resurvey the dams on the river.
Plans for the dam began in 1975 but were soon shelved due to controversy; they were later revitalized in the late 1990s. In the 2000s, the dam underwent new designs, renewed controversy and impact assessments. On 26 August 2010, a contract was signed with Norte Energia to construct the dam once the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) had issued an installation license. A partial installation license was granted on 26 January 2011 but construction was blocked by a federal judge on 25 February. On 3 March, that decision was overturned by a higher court allowing preliminary construction to begin. The license to construct the dam was issued on 1 June 2011.
Project history
Plans for what would eventually be called the Belo Monte Dam Complex began in 1975 during Brazil's military dictatorship, when Eletronorte contracted the Consórcio Nacional de Engenheiros Consultores (CNEC) to realize a hydrographic study to locate potential sites for a hydroelectric project on the Xingu River. CNEC completed its study in 1979 and identified the possibility of constructing five dams on the Xingu River and one dam on the Iriri River.
Original plans for the project based off of the 1979 study included two dams close to Belo Monte. These were: Kararaô (called Belo Monte after 1989), Babaquara (called Altamaria after 1998) which was the next upstream.
Four other dams were planned upstream as well and they include the Ipixuna, Kakraimoro, Iriri and Jarina. The project was part of Eletrobras' "2010 Plan" which included 297 dams that were to be constructed in Brazil by 2010. The plan was leaked early and officially released in December 1987 to an antagonistic public. The plan had Belo Monte to be constructed by 2000 and Altamaria by 2005. Such a speedy timetable was due to the belief that Brazil's relatively new environmental regulations could not stop large projects.
The government offered little transparency to the people who would be affected regarding its plans for the hydroelectric project, provoking indigenous tribes of the region to organize what they called the I Encontro das Nações Indígenas do Xingu (First Encounter of the Indigenous Nations of the Xingu) or the "Altamira Gathering", in 1989. The encounter, symbolized by the indigenous woman leader Tuíra holding her machete against the face of then-engineer José Antonio Muniz Lopes sparked enormous repercussions both in Brazil and internationally over the plans for the six dams. As a result, the five dams above Belo Monte were removed from planning and Kararaô was renamed to Belo Monte at the request of the people of that tribe. Eletronorte also stated they would "resurvey the fall", meaning resurvey the dams on the river.
VIDEO:
Scenes from a historic indigenous gathering held in the Kayapó village in the Amazonian state of Mato Grosso.
This assembly was called to discuss the impending human rights and environmental disaster that is the Belo Monte Dam
on the Lower Xingu -- in particular the menace it represents to Brazil's indigenous peoples -- and ways for its opponents
to forge a single and unified force to resist its construction.
This assembly was called to discuss the impending human rights and environmental disaster that is the Belo Monte Dam
on the Lower Xingu -- in particular the menace it represents to Brazil's indigenous peoples -- and ways for its opponents
to forge a single and unified force to resist its construction.
Redesign
Between 1989 and 2002, the Belo Monte project was redesigned. The reservoir's surface area was reduced from 1,225 km2 (473 sq mi) to 440 km2 (170 sq mi) by moving the dam further upstream. The main rationale for this was to reduce flooding of the Bacajá Indigenous Area. In 1998, the Babaquara Dam was again placed into planning but under a new name, the Altamaria Dam. This surprised local leaders as they felt plans for the dams above Belo Monte were cancelled. Some officials in Brazil were determined to build a dam on a river with an average flow of 7,800 m3/s (275,454 cu ft/s) and at a site that offers a 87.5 m (287 ft) drop. One engineer said of the dam: "God only makes a place like Belo Monte once in a while. This place was made for a dam." President of Eletronorte, José Muniz Lopes, in an interview with the newspaper O Liberal (Belo Monte entusiasma a Eletronorte por Sônia Zaghetto, 15/07/2001), affirmed:
"Within the electric sector's planning for the period 2010/2020, we’re looking at three dams – Marabá (Tocantins river), Altamira (previously called Babaquara, Xingu River) and Itaituba (São Luís do Tapajós). Some journalists say that we are not talking about these dams because we’re trying to hide them. It’s just that their time has not yet come. We’re now asking for authorization to intensify our studies for these dams. Brazil would be greatly benefited if we could follow Belo Monte with Marabá, then Altamira and Itaituba.
Second study
In 2002, Eletronorte presented a new environmental impact assessment for the Belo Monte Dam Complex, which presented three alternatives. Alternative A included the six original dams planned in 1975. Alternative B included a reduction to four dams, dropping Jarina and Iriri. Alternative C included a reduction to Belo Monte only. The new environmental impact assessment contained reductions in reservoir size and the introduction of a run-of-the-river model, in contrast to the large reservoirs characteristic of the 1975 plans.
Also in 2002, Workers' Party leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva earned a victory in his campaign for president, having originally run a failed campaign in 1985 after the fall of the military dictatorship. Lula soon brokered political deals with the center and right-wing sectors in 2003, especially with ex-president José Sarney of the state of Maranhão of the PMDB, which would set the precedent that eventually characterized the two Lula administrations: cooperation between the market and the state, a combination of a free market economy with larger social spending and welfare. This economic model provided the rationale and financial support for new efforts to construct Belo Monte. In 2007, at the beginning of Lula's second term in office, a new national investment program was introduced: the Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (Program to Accelerate Growth). The Belo Monte Dam Complex figured as an anchor project of the new investment plan.
In 2008, another new environmental impact assessment was written, this time by Eletrobras with the participation of Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa, and Andrade Gutierrez, which formally accepted Alternative C or the construction only of the Belo Monte dam itself. The assessment also presented further design changes; in order to avoid inundating indigenous territory, which is not permitted by the Brazilian Constitution, the new design included two canals to divert the water away from indigenous territories and into a reservoir called the Reservatorio dos Canais (Canals Reservoir). An additional reservoir would be created called the Reservatorio da Calha do Xingu (Xingu Riverbed Reservoir), and electricity would be generated from the two reservoirs using three dams: a complementary powerhouse called Pimental (233 MW), a complementary spillway called Bela Vista, and the main powerhouse called Belo Monte (11,000 MW). The Reservatorio dos Canais would be retained by over a dozen large dikes, and water from the reservoirs would be channeled towards the main powerhouse.
However, transparency of the government's plans once again became an issue, sparking indigenous tribes of the region to organize another large meeting, called the Segundo Encontro dos Povos do Xingu(the Second Encounter of the Peoples of the Xingu) in the city of Altamira, Pará on 20 May 2008.
First license grantedIn February 2010, Brazilian environmental agency IBAMA granted a provisional environmental license, one of three licenses required by Brazilian legislation for development projects. The provisional license approved the 2008 environmental impact assessment and permitted the project auction to take place in April 2010.
In April 2010, Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa, and CPFL dropped out of the project tender, arguing that the artificially low price of the auction (R$83/USD$47) set by the government was not viable for economic returns on investment. On 20 April 2010, the Norte Energia consortium won the project auction by bidding at R$77.97/MWh, almost 6% below the price ceiling of R$83/MWh. After the auction, local leaders around the project site warned of imminent violence. Kayapó leader Raoni Metuktire stated: "There will be a war so the white man cannot interfere in our lands again." U.S. film director James Cameron also visited the site prior to the auction and stated he would produce an anti-Belo Monte Dam film called Message From Pandora which was later released in November.
In April 2010 the Brazilian Federal Attorney General's Office suspended the project tender and annulled the provisional environmental license on claims of unconstitutionality. Specifically, Article 176 of the Federal Constitution states that federal law must determine the conditions of mineral and hydroelectric extraction when these activities take place in indigenous peoples' territories, as is the case for the "Big Bend" (Volta Grande) region. As a result, the electric utility ANEEL canceled the project auction. The same day, the appellate court for Region 1 disenfranchised the Attorney General's suspension, reinstating the project auction at ANEEL.
On 26 August 2010, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed the contract with the Norte Energia at a ceremony in Brasilia. Construction is not permitted to begin on the Belo Monte Dam Complex until IBAMA grants the second of the federally required environmental licenses, called the Installation License. The Installation License can only be granted once Norte Energia shows indisputable proof that it has met 40 socio-environmental mitigation conditions upon which the first provisional environmental license was conditioned.
According to an October 2010 IBAMA report, at least 23 conditions had not been met. Reports indicate that on 14 January 2011, a report from staff members of FUNAI, Fundação Nacional do Índio, (National Indian Foundation) had sent a report to IBAMA expressing concerns about the location of the project, its impact on reservation land, and the lack of attention to needs of the indigenous people, especially the Paquiçamba and recommending that FUNAI oppose any license to operate. Despite this report, FUNAI senior management sent IBAMA a letter on 21 January 2011 stating that it did not oppose the issuance of a limited construction license.
On 26 January 2011, a partial installation license was granted by IBAMA, authorizing Norte Energia to begin initial construction activities only including forest clearing, the construction of easement areas, and improvement of existing roads for the transport of equipment and machinery. In February 2011, Norte Energía signed contracts with multiple suppliers for the design, production, installation and commissioning of generation and associated equipment. On 1 June 2011, IBAMA granted the full license to construct the dam after studies were carried out and the consortium agreed to pay $1.9 billion in costs to address social and environmental problems. The only remaining license is one to operate the dam's power plant.
Federal Court case
On 25 February 2011, the Federal Public Prosecutor filed its 11th lawsuit against Belo Monte Dam, suspending IBAMA's partial installation license, on the grounds that the Brazilian Constitution does not allow for the granting of partial project licenses. The Federal Public Prosecutor also argued that the 40 social and environmental conditions tied to IBAMA's provisional license of February 2010 had yet to be fulfilled, a prerequisite to the granting of a full installation license. On 25 February 2011, Brazilian federal judge Ronaldo Destêrro blocked the project citing environmental concerns. It was Brazil's biggest public hearing ever.
The ruling was described by The Guardian as "a serious setback". President of a federal regional court Olindo Menezes overturned the decision on 3 March 2011 saying there was no need for all conditions to be met in order for preliminary work to begin. Construction site preparation began with a week after the decision.
Alternatives WWF-Brazil released a report in 2007 stating that Brazil could cut its expected demand for electricity by 40% by 2020 by investing in energy efficiency. The power saved would be equivalent to 14 Belo Monte hydroelectric plants and would result in national electricity savings of up to R$33 billion (US$19 billion).
Ex-director of ANEEL Afonso Henriques Moreira Santos stated that large dams such as Belo Monte were not necessary to meet the government's goal of 6% growth per year. Rather, he argued that Brasil could grow through increasing its installed capacity in wind power, currently only at 400 MW.
Environmental effectsThe project is strongly criticized by indigenous people and numerous environmental organizations in Brazil plus organizations and individuals around the world.
Belo Monte's 668 square kilometres (258 sq mi) of reservoir will flood 400 square kilometres (150 sq mi) of forest, about 0.01% of the Amazon forest. Though argued to be a relatively small area for a dam’s energy output, this output cannot be fully obtained without the construction of other dams planned within the dam complex. The prognosed area of reservoir for the Belo Monte dam and the necessary Altamira dam together will exceed 6500 km2 of rainforest.
The environmental impact assessment written by Eletrobras, Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa, and Andrade Gutierrez listed the following possible adverse effects:
- The loss of vegetation and natural spaces, with changes in fauna and flora;
- Changes in the quality and path of the water supply, and fish migration routes;
- Temporary disruption of the water supply in the Xingu riverbed for 7 months
Incomplete environmental assessment
In February 2010, Brazilian environmental agency IBAMA granted an environmental license for the construction of the dam despite uproar from within the agency about incomplete information in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) written by Eletrobras, Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa, and Andrade Gutierrez. Previously in October 2009, a panel composed of independent experts and specialists from Brazilian universities and research institutes issued a report on the EIA, finding "various omissions and methodological inconsistencies in the EIA..." Among the problems cited within the EIA were the project's uncertain cost, deforestation, generation capacity, greenhouse gas emissions and in particular the omission of consideration for those affected by the river being mostly diverted in the 100 km (62 mi) long "Big Bed" (Volta Grande).
Two senior officials at IBAMA, Leozildo Tabajara da Silva Benjamin and Sebastião Custódio Pires, resigned their posts in 2009 citing high-level political pressure to approve the project. In January 2011, IBAMA president Abelardo Azevedo also resigned his post. The previous president Roberto Messias had also stepped down, citing in April 2010 that is was because of pressure from both the government and environmental organizations.
140 organizations and movements from Brazil and across the globe decried the decision-making process in granting the environmental license for the dams in a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2010.
Loss of biodiversity
The fish fauna of the Xingu river is extremely rich with an estimated 600 fish species and with a high degree of endemism, with many species found nowhere else in the world. The area either dried out or drowned by the dam spans the entire known world distribution of a number of species, e.g. the Zebra Pleco (Hypancistrus zebra), the Sunshine Pleco (Scobinancistrus aureatus), the Slender Dwarf Pike Cichlid (Teleocichla centisquama), the plant-eating piranha Ossubtus xinguense and the Xingu Dart-Poison frog (Allobates crombiei). An independent expert review of the costs of the dam concluded that the proposed flow through the Volta Grande meant the river "will not be capable of maintaining species diversity", risking "extinction of hundreds of species.
Greenhouse gas budget
The National Amazon Research Institute (INPA) calculated that during its first 10 years, the Belo Monte-Babaquara dam complex would emit 11.2 million metric tons of Carbon dioxide equivalent, and an additional 0.783 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent would be generated during construction and connection to the national energy grid. However, independent studies estimate greenhouse gas emissions of an amount that would require 41 years of optimal energy production from the Belo Monte Dam complex in order to reach environmental sustainability over fossil fuel energy.
Dams in Brazil emit high amounts of methane, due to the lush jungle covered by waters each year as the basin fills. Carbon is trapped by foliage, which then decays anaerobically with help from methanogens, converting the carbon to methane, which is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. As a result, carbon emissions are emitted from the dam each year it is in operation. A 1990 study of the Curuá-Una Dam, also in Brazil, found that it pollutes 3.5 times more in carbon dioxide equivalent than an oil power plant generating an equal amount of electricity would; not in the form of the CO2 atmospheric pollution associated with fossil fuel burning, but as the more dangerous methane emissions. Furthermore, the forest will be cleared before flooding of the area, so the CO2 and methane emissions calculated for the flooding of the forested area will be significantly undercut. In addition, a study on the Brazilian Tucuruí dam showed that the actual greenhouse gas emissions were a factor ten higher than its official calculations showed, and this dam is no exception; it is feared that the Belo Monte Dam calculations are also deliberately undercutting reality and that the flooding of its reservoir will create a similar situation.
On the other hand, the energy generated by the dam for the next 50 years, at an average of 4419 MW, is 1.14 bboe (billion barrels of oil equivalent). This is approximately 9% of the proven oil reserves of Brazil (12.6 bbl), or 2% of the total oil reserves of Russia (60 bbl), or 5.5% of the proven oil reserves of the U.S. (21 bbl).
Social effects
Although strongly criticized by indigenous leaders, the president of Brazil's EPE claims they have popular support for the dam. An 20 April 2010 Folha de Sao Paulo poll showed 52% in favor of the dam. The dam will directly displace over 20,000 people, mainly from the municipalities of Altamira and Vitória do Xingu. Two river diversion canals 500 metres (1,600 ft) wide by 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long will be excavated. The canals would divert water from the main dam to the power plant. Belo Monte will flood a total area of 668 square kilometres (258 sq mi). Of the total, 400 square kilometres (150 sq mi) of flooded area will be forested land. The river diversion canals will reduce river flow by to 80% in the area known as the Volta Grande ("Big Bend"), where the territories of the indigenous Juruna and Arara people, as well as sixteen other ethnic groups are located. While these tribes will not be directly impacted by reservoir flooding, and therefore will not be relocated, they may suffer involuntary displacement, as the river diversion negatively affects their fisheries, groundwater, ability to transport on the river and stagnant pools of water offer an environment for water-borne diseases, an issue that is criticized for not being addressed in the Environmental Impact Assessment.
Among the 20,000 to be directly displaced by reservoir flooding, resettlement programs have been identified by the government as necessary for mitigation. Norte Energia have failed to obtain free, prior, and informed consent from the Juruna and Arara indigenous tribes to be impacted by Belo Monte. The project would also attract an estimated 100,000 migrants to the area. An estimated 18,700 direct jobs would be created, with an additional 25,000 indirect jobs to accommodate the surge in population. However, only a fraction of the direct jobs will stay available after the project’s completion, which critics have argued to spell economic disaster rather than economic prosperity.
The influx of immigrants and construction workers has also lead to increased social tension between groups. Indigenous Groupsreport attacks and harassment, and in several occasions the destruction of property and the death of indigenous persons as a result from constructing and (illegal) logging activities. External researchers indicate that the majority of the Belo Monte dam’s energy output will be relegated towards the aluminium industry, and will not benefit the people living in the area. However, Norte Energia released a clarification note stating their concern with the socioeconomic development of the area, including the promise to invest R$ 3.700 billion (1,300 million GBP) into various issues.
IBAMA report
The IBAMA's environmental impact assessment has listed the following possible impacts:
- The generation of expectations towards the future of the local population and indigenous people;
- An increase in population and uncontrolled land occupation;
- An increase in the needs of services and goods, as well as job demand;
- A loss of housing and economic activities due to the transfer of population;
- Improvements on the accessibility of the region;
- Changes in the landscape, caused by the installation of support and main structures for the construction of the dam;
- Damage to the archeological estates in the area;
- Permanent flooding of shelters in Gravura Assurini;
However, a clarification was released by the Brazilian authorities, in which it was deemed that the assured social and economic benefits, considered for the environmental redesign and the region’s infrastructural developments, would outweigh the prognosed environmental damage.
Human Rights concerns
The attitude and treatment of the Brazilian government towards the affected indigenous groups is strongly criticised internationally. The UN Human Rights Council has published statements denouncing Brazil’s careless constructing, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) likewise pointed out that the Brazilian state was in violation of ILO conventions (particularly convention 169) – though as a non-binding contract, Brazil’s status of signatory does not oblige it to comply by these principles. Indigenous groups have questioned the government’s actions over these events, but their situation remains ignored by the authorities, as shown with the May 2011 Xingu Mission report of the CDDPH (Conselho de Defesa dos Direitos da Pessoa Humana), of which several sections regarding accusations of human right violations were excluded by the Special Secretary for Human Rights , Maria do Rosário Nunes.
To see the sources and references for this article, please go to Wikipedia
The Brazilian government is moving ahead "at any cost" with plans to build
the Belo Monte Monster Dam
The Brazilian government is moving ahead "at any cost" with plans to build the third-largest dam in the world and one of the Amazon's most controversial development projects – the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River in the state of Pará. The Belo Monte dam complex dates back to Brazil's military dictatorship and the government has attempted to build it through various series of national investment programs including Brasil em Ação and the Program to Accelerate Growth. Original plans to dam the Xingu have been greenwashed through multiple public relations programs over the course of two decades in the face of intense national and international protest.
Impacts on Environment and People
In order to feed the powerhouse of the Belo Monte dam complex, up to 80% of the Xingu River will be diverted from its original course, causing a permanent drought on the river's "Big Bend," and directly affecting the Paquiçamba and Arara territories of the Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples. To make this possible, two huge canals 500 meters wide by 75 km long will be excavated, unearthing more land than was removed to build the Panama Canal. Belo Monte's two reservoirs and canals will flood a total of 668 km2 of which 400 km2 is standing forest. The flooding will also force more than 20,000 people from their homes in the municipalities of Altamira and Vitoria do Xingu.
Hydroelectric energy is touted as both a solution to Brazil's periodic blackouts and as a "clean development" approach to global climate change. However, Philip Fearnside of the National Amazon Research Institute (INPA) has calculated that the forests flooded by Belo Monte's reservoirs will generate enormous quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than CO2.
Belo Monte will also attract 100,000 migrants to the region. However, at the height of construction, only 40,000 jobs – only 2,000 of them long-term – will have been created. The remaining labor pool will be driven to resort to illegal logging and cattle ranching, the two main causes of deforestation in the Amazon. In addition, new migrants could fuel social tensions as they look for work, pushing into indigenous territories and protected areas to carve out a livelihood. Meanwhile, the needs of those who do find jobs will add pressure to an already weak infrastructure and social services in the largest cities.
For the Xingu's poor farmers, temporary employment created by the dam is not a viable replacement for lost agricultural lands and the river's fish supply. Considered an "obstacle" to business interests, indigenous peoples are particularly vulnerable. Mega-projects typically confront indigenous communities with disease, loss of food and clean water sources, cultural disintegration and human rights abuses by illegal loggers, migrant workers and land speculators. The indirect and long term impacts of Belo Monte are of even greater concern as other unsustainable industries such as aluminum and metal refineries, soy plantations, logging, and mining expand into the area.
Impacts on Environment and People
In order to feed the powerhouse of the Belo Monte dam complex, up to 80% of the Xingu River will be diverted from its original course, causing a permanent drought on the river's "Big Bend," and directly affecting the Paquiçamba and Arara territories of the Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples. To make this possible, two huge canals 500 meters wide by 75 km long will be excavated, unearthing more land than was removed to build the Panama Canal. Belo Monte's two reservoirs and canals will flood a total of 668 km2 of which 400 km2 is standing forest. The flooding will also force more than 20,000 people from their homes in the municipalities of Altamira and Vitoria do Xingu.
Hydroelectric energy is touted as both a solution to Brazil's periodic blackouts and as a "clean development" approach to global climate change. However, Philip Fearnside of the National Amazon Research Institute (INPA) has calculated that the forests flooded by Belo Monte's reservoirs will generate enormous quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than CO2.
Belo Monte will also attract 100,000 migrants to the region. However, at the height of construction, only 40,000 jobs – only 2,000 of them long-term – will have been created. The remaining labor pool will be driven to resort to illegal logging and cattle ranching, the two main causes of deforestation in the Amazon. In addition, new migrants could fuel social tensions as they look for work, pushing into indigenous territories and protected areas to carve out a livelihood. Meanwhile, the needs of those who do find jobs will add pressure to an already weak infrastructure and social services in the largest cities.
For the Xingu's poor farmers, temporary employment created by the dam is not a viable replacement for lost agricultural lands and the river's fish supply. Considered an "obstacle" to business interests, indigenous peoples are particularly vulnerable. Mega-projects typically confront indigenous communities with disease, loss of food and clean water sources, cultural disintegration and human rights abuses by illegal loggers, migrant workers and land speculators. The indirect and long term impacts of Belo Monte are of even greater concern as other unsustainable industries such as aluminum and metal refineries, soy plantations, logging, and mining expand into the area.
The original plans for damming the Xingu included six dams: Kararão, Babaquara, Jarina, Ipixuna, Iriri, and Kokraimoro. However, when the indigenous people of the Xingu rejected the dams and defended the river in 1989, the government changed their approach: the name Kararão (a war cry in Kayapó) became "Belo Monte", the name Babaquara became "Altamira", and so forth.
At the Second Historical Encounter in Defense of the Xingu in May 2008, the government announced it would only license and auction one dam complex – "Belo Monte" – which in reality is three dams: the main dam at Ilha do Pimental, a complementary reinforcement dam called Bela Vista, and the main turbine house at Belo Monte do Pontal. However, because of the dramatic variations in the Xingu River's flow between the rainy season and dry season, the government knows that building Belo Monte is economically unviable unless more dams are built upstream. Earlier plans for Belo Monte called for four additional upstream dams: Altamira, Iriri, Pombal, and São Felix.
The possible future upstream dams would impact Kayapó indigenous territories, flood the lands of peoples such as the Araweté, Assuriní and Arara, and cause extensive damage to forests and fisheries across the region.
What the Electricity is For
The government claims that Belo Monte's cheap energy will power the houses of Brazilian families. In reality, only 70% of Belo Monte's energy will be sold for public consumption. Meanwhile, the remaining 30% has been purchased by state electric utility Eletrobras to resell to inefficient and energy-intensive industrial mining and other operations. The government has planned a USD $40 billion investment in mining expansion for the Amazon region through the year 2014. The heavily subsidized electricity from Belo Monte and other hydroelectric dams planned for the region would power the expansion of export-oriented mining at the Vale corporation's Carajás iron mine and Salobo copper mine, Alcoa's Juriti bauxite mine, and Anglo American's Jacaré nickel mine, among others. Meanwhile, Brazilian citizens would continue to pay among the highest energy tariffs in the developing world in exchange for electricity from perhaps the most inefficient dam in the country's history.
Sustainable Alternatives
WWF-Brazil released a report in 2007 stating that Brazil could cut its expected demand for electricity by 40% by 2020 by investing in energy efficiency. The power saved would be equivalent to 14 Belo Monte hydroelectric plants and would result in national electricity savings of up to R$33 billion (US$19 billion).
Retrofitting existing hydroelectric infrastructure would also add thousands of megawatts to the energy grid without needing to dam another river. A first step would be to reduce the startling amount of energy lost during transmission, replace energy-inefficient household products, and update old and failing generators. Rather than invest in large, inefficient dams, Brazil has the potential to be a global leader in energy efficiency and renewables such as wind and solar power, conserving the Amazon ecosystem and drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Project Finance and Cost
The Belo Monte dam complex is expected to cost upwards of USD $17 billion, including $2.5 billion for the transmission lines. The project has been developed by the state-owned energy company Eletronorte, and would be funded largely by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), which has publicly committed to financing up to 80% of the project cost. Financing for Belo Monte would represent the largest loan in BNDES' history, for which the bank has offered unprecedented loan conditions, including 30-year interest periods at 4%, significantly below the cost of capital. The government is also siphoning Brazilian public pension funds and the country's workers' insurance funds in order to bankroll a full 25% of the project's construction consortium, called Norte Energia.
The 18-member Norte Energia consortium is currently marked by a state-controlled participation in the consortium totaling 77.5 percent, dwarfing the role of private sector investors and reflecting concerns about the financial risks associated with the project. Nonetheless, using subsidized credit from BNDES and through back-door deals, the Brazilian government has lured construction giants Odebrecht, Andrade Gutierrez, and Camargo Correa back into the consortium, and are expected to participate in up to 50% of the dam's construction as contractors. Meanwhile, European companies Alstom, Andritz, and Voith-Siemens and Argentine company Impsa are expected to supply turbines for the project.
Grave Omissions in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
The IBAMA technical team assigned to the project declared that "there are insufficient elements to attest to the environmental viability of the project" due to the omission of data in the EIA. Data was missing regarding water quality, socioeconomic indicators, and fish populations, and flimsy plans to mitigate the direct impacts on riverine families were devised last minute, causing serious divisions within the agency. Despite this, in February 2010 the head of IBAMA approved the EIA, granting the dam's provisional environmental license, and stipulated that the winning consortium monitor the project impacts over a six-year "trial period" of operation.4 This "wait and see" attitude is no way to manage the environmental impacts of the world's third-largest dam.
Despite laws and policies promising environmental protection and community participation in development and land management decisions, Brazil's official EIA for the Belo Monte project has also received harsh criticism from national and international experts, all of whom note that the EIA barely covers even the minimum amount of information required by Brazilian legislation.
In protest, two senior technicians at IBAMA, Leozildo Tabajara da Silva Benjamin and Sebastião Custódio Pires, resigned their posts in 2009 after citing high-level political pressure to approve the project despite the obvious omissions in the EIA.5 Shortly after the government's decision to move forward with Belo Monte, 140 organizations and movements from Brazil and across the globe decried the decision-making process in granting the environmental license for the dams in a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2010.
Lack of Public Consultation
The government claims that proper public hearings were held to consult indigenous people and river dwellers about the impacts of Belo Monte. Indeed, Minister of the Environment Carlos Minc claimed that the public hearings were "pedagogic." However, this could not be further from the truth. Only four public hearings were held in the cities of Altamira and Vitória do Xingu, destinations that take days for indigenous people traveling by boat to reach. Even so, at the public hearings security forces impeded the entrance of civil society representatives, and the few public queries that were asked were dismissed, ridiculed, and answered evasively by Eletrobras representatives.
Leaders from the Xingu River Basin have made it clear that their right to consultation on the Belo Monte project has not been honored. José Carlos Arara of the Arara people on the Xingu's Big Bend, for example, has denounced the government's claims that he and other leaders took part in an official meeting with the government on Belo Monte, as mandated by the licensing process. He even has video footage of government officials stating that their 2009 meeting with local leadership was an unofficial consultation, clearly promising that an official audience would take place.
Legal Challenges and Federal Injunctions
Brazil's Federal Attorney General filed two judicial actions in 2010 against IBAMA for having granted the provisional environmental license without responding to the omissions in Eletrobras' environmental assessment. The judicial actions argue that the missing water quality data violates National Environmental Council (CONAMA) Resolution 357, which establishes the standards for water quality, and article 176 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution, which prohibits the development of hydrological energy potential on indigenous lands without a previous fulfillment of regulatory mechanisms.
The Belo Monte auction took place on April 20, 2010 amidst street protests taking place in major cities across Brazil. Leading up to the auction date three injunctions (restraining orders) were issued by a federal judge of Altamira. Favoring the civil action lawsuits filed by the Brazilian Federal Public Prosecutors Office and human rights and environmentalist NGOs, the injunctions were struck down by a regional appellate court judge, under heavy political pressure from the Lula government. It is important to stress that the auction took place while the third restraining order was in full effect.
Each injunction was overturned in a matter of hours by the President of the Appellate Court for "Region 1" - which covers the entire Amazon basin - succumbing to heavy political pressure from the Lula administration. In spite of legal and constitutional safeguards that place the Belo Monte dam in dubious legal standing, the Brazilian government has consistently used a heavy hand to push this project through to the detriment of the Xingu River and its peoples. If built, the dam forbears a grim future for the rivers of the Amazon basin.
Source: Amazonwatch
At the Second Historical Encounter in Defense of the Xingu in May 2008, the government announced it would only license and auction one dam complex – "Belo Monte" – which in reality is three dams: the main dam at Ilha do Pimental, a complementary reinforcement dam called Bela Vista, and the main turbine house at Belo Monte do Pontal. However, because of the dramatic variations in the Xingu River's flow between the rainy season and dry season, the government knows that building Belo Monte is economically unviable unless more dams are built upstream. Earlier plans for Belo Monte called for four additional upstream dams: Altamira, Iriri, Pombal, and São Felix.
The possible future upstream dams would impact Kayapó indigenous territories, flood the lands of peoples such as the Araweté, Assuriní and Arara, and cause extensive damage to forests and fisheries across the region.
What the Electricity is For
The government claims that Belo Monte's cheap energy will power the houses of Brazilian families. In reality, only 70% of Belo Monte's energy will be sold for public consumption. Meanwhile, the remaining 30% has been purchased by state electric utility Eletrobras to resell to inefficient and energy-intensive industrial mining and other operations. The government has planned a USD $40 billion investment in mining expansion for the Amazon region through the year 2014. The heavily subsidized electricity from Belo Monte and other hydroelectric dams planned for the region would power the expansion of export-oriented mining at the Vale corporation's Carajás iron mine and Salobo copper mine, Alcoa's Juriti bauxite mine, and Anglo American's Jacaré nickel mine, among others. Meanwhile, Brazilian citizens would continue to pay among the highest energy tariffs in the developing world in exchange for electricity from perhaps the most inefficient dam in the country's history.
Sustainable Alternatives
WWF-Brazil released a report in 2007 stating that Brazil could cut its expected demand for electricity by 40% by 2020 by investing in energy efficiency. The power saved would be equivalent to 14 Belo Monte hydroelectric plants and would result in national electricity savings of up to R$33 billion (US$19 billion).
Retrofitting existing hydroelectric infrastructure would also add thousands of megawatts to the energy grid without needing to dam another river. A first step would be to reduce the startling amount of energy lost during transmission, replace energy-inefficient household products, and update old and failing generators. Rather than invest in large, inefficient dams, Brazil has the potential to be a global leader in energy efficiency and renewables such as wind and solar power, conserving the Amazon ecosystem and drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Project Finance and Cost
The Belo Monte dam complex is expected to cost upwards of USD $17 billion, including $2.5 billion for the transmission lines. The project has been developed by the state-owned energy company Eletronorte, and would be funded largely by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), which has publicly committed to financing up to 80% of the project cost. Financing for Belo Monte would represent the largest loan in BNDES' history, for which the bank has offered unprecedented loan conditions, including 30-year interest periods at 4%, significantly below the cost of capital. The government is also siphoning Brazilian public pension funds and the country's workers' insurance funds in order to bankroll a full 25% of the project's construction consortium, called Norte Energia.
The 18-member Norte Energia consortium is currently marked by a state-controlled participation in the consortium totaling 77.5 percent, dwarfing the role of private sector investors and reflecting concerns about the financial risks associated with the project. Nonetheless, using subsidized credit from BNDES and through back-door deals, the Brazilian government has lured construction giants Odebrecht, Andrade Gutierrez, and Camargo Correa back into the consortium, and are expected to participate in up to 50% of the dam's construction as contractors. Meanwhile, European companies Alstom, Andritz, and Voith-Siemens and Argentine company Impsa are expected to supply turbines for the project.
Grave Omissions in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
The IBAMA technical team assigned to the project declared that "there are insufficient elements to attest to the environmental viability of the project" due to the omission of data in the EIA. Data was missing regarding water quality, socioeconomic indicators, and fish populations, and flimsy plans to mitigate the direct impacts on riverine families were devised last minute, causing serious divisions within the agency. Despite this, in February 2010 the head of IBAMA approved the EIA, granting the dam's provisional environmental license, and stipulated that the winning consortium monitor the project impacts over a six-year "trial period" of operation.4 This "wait and see" attitude is no way to manage the environmental impacts of the world's third-largest dam.
Despite laws and policies promising environmental protection and community participation in development and land management decisions, Brazil's official EIA for the Belo Monte project has also received harsh criticism from national and international experts, all of whom note that the EIA barely covers even the minimum amount of information required by Brazilian legislation.
In protest, two senior technicians at IBAMA, Leozildo Tabajara da Silva Benjamin and Sebastião Custódio Pires, resigned their posts in 2009 after citing high-level political pressure to approve the project despite the obvious omissions in the EIA.5 Shortly after the government's decision to move forward with Belo Monte, 140 organizations and movements from Brazil and across the globe decried the decision-making process in granting the environmental license for the dams in a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2010.
Lack of Public Consultation
The government claims that proper public hearings were held to consult indigenous people and river dwellers about the impacts of Belo Monte. Indeed, Minister of the Environment Carlos Minc claimed that the public hearings were "pedagogic." However, this could not be further from the truth. Only four public hearings were held in the cities of Altamira and Vitória do Xingu, destinations that take days for indigenous people traveling by boat to reach. Even so, at the public hearings security forces impeded the entrance of civil society representatives, and the few public queries that were asked were dismissed, ridiculed, and answered evasively by Eletrobras representatives.
Leaders from the Xingu River Basin have made it clear that their right to consultation on the Belo Monte project has not been honored. José Carlos Arara of the Arara people on the Xingu's Big Bend, for example, has denounced the government's claims that he and other leaders took part in an official meeting with the government on Belo Monte, as mandated by the licensing process. He even has video footage of government officials stating that their 2009 meeting with local leadership was an unofficial consultation, clearly promising that an official audience would take place.
Legal Challenges and Federal Injunctions
Brazil's Federal Attorney General filed two judicial actions in 2010 against IBAMA for having granted the provisional environmental license without responding to the omissions in Eletrobras' environmental assessment. The judicial actions argue that the missing water quality data violates National Environmental Council (CONAMA) Resolution 357, which establishes the standards for water quality, and article 176 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution, which prohibits the development of hydrological energy potential on indigenous lands without a previous fulfillment of regulatory mechanisms.
The Belo Monte auction took place on April 20, 2010 amidst street protests taking place in major cities across Brazil. Leading up to the auction date three injunctions (restraining orders) were issued by a federal judge of Altamira. Favoring the civil action lawsuits filed by the Brazilian Federal Public Prosecutors Office and human rights and environmentalist NGOs, the injunctions were struck down by a regional appellate court judge, under heavy political pressure from the Lula government. It is important to stress that the auction took place while the third restraining order was in full effect.
Each injunction was overturned in a matter of hours by the President of the Appellate Court for "Region 1" - which covers the entire Amazon basin - succumbing to heavy political pressure from the Lula administration. In spite of legal and constitutional safeguards that place the Belo Monte dam in dubious legal standing, the Brazilian government has consistently used a heavy hand to push this project through to the detriment of the Xingu River and its peoples. If built, the dam forbears a grim future for the rivers of the Amazon basin.
Source: Amazonwatch
Please, help the Amazon!
Send emails to Brazilian Embassies Worldwide
HE Presidente Dilma Rousseff
Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil
Gabinete do Presidente
Palácio do Planalto
Praça dos Três Poderes
70150-900 Brasilia DF
Brazil
Your Excellency,
I am concerned about the construction of the Belo Monte mega-dam on the Xingu river in the Amazon.
The dam would flood a large area of land, dry up certain parts of the Xingu river, cause huge devastation to the rainforest and reduce fish stocks upon which the indigenous peoples in the area depend for their survival.
The construction of the dam would attract large numbers of migrant workers and colonists who are likely to bring diseases to the Indians, putting their lives at risk. Invasions of indigenous territories and violence would increase.
The livelihoods of thousands of tribal people who depend on the forest and river for food and water would be destroyed.
The Indians have not been properly consulted about the dam, in violation of Brazilian and international law.
FUNAI has said that uncontacted Indians may live in the area. They are most at risk. They have little or no resistance to outside diseases and the impacts of the dam could be fatal for them.
I call upon your Excellency to suspend plans to build the dam until and unless indigenous communities have given their free, prior and informed consent to it, and the land where the uncontacted Indians live has been officially recognized and protected.
Yours sincerely,
.................................................
sign with your name, city, country
Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil
Gabinete do Presidente
Palácio do Planalto
Praça dos Três Poderes
70150-900 Brasilia DF
Brazil
Your Excellency,
I am concerned about the construction of the Belo Monte mega-dam on the Xingu river in the Amazon.
The dam would flood a large area of land, dry up certain parts of the Xingu river, cause huge devastation to the rainforest and reduce fish stocks upon which the indigenous peoples in the area depend for their survival.
The construction of the dam would attract large numbers of migrant workers and colonists who are likely to bring diseases to the Indians, putting their lives at risk. Invasions of indigenous territories and violence would increase.
The livelihoods of thousands of tribal people who depend on the forest and river for food and water would be destroyed.
The Indians have not been properly consulted about the dam, in violation of Brazilian and international law.
FUNAI has said that uncontacted Indians may live in the area. They are most at risk. They have little or no resistance to outside diseases and the impacts of the dam could be fatal for them.
I call upon your Excellency to suspend plans to build the dam until and unless indigenous communities have given their free, prior and informed consent to it, and the land where the uncontacted Indians live has been officially recognized and protected.
Yours sincerely,
.................................................
sign with your name, city, country
Email addresses
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Occupy Belo Monte
July 6, 2012
The indigenous-led occupation of Pimental Island on the Xingu River started on July 21st. Steadily-growing groups of indigenous inhabitants of the Xingu are demanding that construction of the Belo Monte dam be halted until the dam-building consortium and the government can put in place effective measures to address the effects of the dam such as loss of fishing and hunting resources, loss of river navigation, and increased incidence of diseases.
More than 300 people from 21 indigenous villages and 9 different ethnicities are represented at the occupation so far. Many tribal elders have expressd outrage seeing how the initial earthen dam is now blocking a large part of the flow of their mighty river. On one side of the coffer dam, the river comes to a sudden halt; on the other side, there is no flow, just pools of stagnant water.
High-resolution photos are available here
What bulldozers and cynical politics do,
shovels and grassroots resistance undo
June 15, 2012
Three hundred indigenous people, small farmers, fisherfolk, and local residents occupied the Belo Monte Dam project, removing a strip of earth to restore the Xingu's natural flow and "freeing the river." Participants gathered in formation spelling out the words "Pare Belo Monte" meaning "Stop Belo Monte" to send a powerful message about the devastating impacts of the dam on the eve of the UN Rio+20 Summit. Their message is that projects that destroys livelihoods and the environment and that violate indigenous rights cannot be called "Clean Energy". They are demanding the cancellation of the $18 billion Belo Monte dam project.
High-resolution photos are available here
"Rivers for Life" Human Banner at Rio+20
June 19, 2012
Nearly 1500 people used Rio's Flamengo Beach as a canvas on June 19th, 2012. Their bodies formed the lines of an enormous image promoting the importance of free-running rivers, truly clean energy sources like solar power and including indigenous knowledge as part of the solution to climate issues. The activity was led by Brazil’s many indigenous peoples organized under the umbrella of the Articulation of Brazilian Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous people not welcome at Rio +20
The following Audio-Visual Report was filmed by Rebecca Sommer in June 2012, at the Free Land Camp (Alternative space for Indigenous Peoples of Brazil) in the Peoples' Summit during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio +20.
- Protest march and occupation of the headquarters of BNDES against the construction of Belo Monte Hydroelectric dam.
- Protest march in front of the Rio Centro (Place of the UN Conference in Rio +20) with the goal to deliver their Indigenous Free Land Camp Declaration.
- the struggle of the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples for the UN and the Brazilian Government to hear their grievances and demands, since most of them were almost excluded from the official discussion of the Rio+20 UN Conference. Several traditional leaders had no credentials to enter and participate in discussions in the UN event.
The traditional leaders were also disappointed by the indifference of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights that had not responded to their request for a meeting with her during the Conference.
Please click HERE to read the 'Free Land Camp Declaration'
Join the call to suspend the Belo Monte Dam
The people of the Xingu are fighting for their survival and need your solidarity today.
Brazil's indigenous and environmental agencies are deciding whether to authorize the irrevocable diversion of the Xingu River, reducing it's flow by as much as 80%. Join thousands of others in sending a message to FUNAI and IBAMA today.
Please click here to take action now. Thank you!
Please click here to take action now. Thank you!
August 15, 2012
Court suspends the construction of the Belo Monte Dam project
Brazilian judge rules environmental and rights activists' concerns regarding massive $11bn project must be addressed
via Aljazeera
A federal judge in Brazil has suspended construction work on a massive dam in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Judge Souza Prudente said that work could only resume on the $11bn, 11,000MW Belo Monte Dam after the indigenous communities living in the area were consulted.
The dam has been condemned by environmentalists and rights activists, who say that it would devastate wildlife and the livelihoods of 40,000 people who live in the area that would be flooded.
The government, however, says the dam will be a source of clean, sustainable energy, and that it will help fuel the country's economy.
The dam would be the world's third largest when completed on the Xingu River that feeds the Amazon.
The court noted that when congress approved the project in 2005, it called for an environmental impact study after the start of the work.
Environmental impact
Native communities had been given the right to air their concerns in parliament on the basis of that environmental-impact study.
This was not done, the court said.
It said that the Norte Energia consortium in charge of the project will be able to appeal the decision to a higher court.
Norte Energia told AFP it was awaiting formal notification of the court ruling before responding.
The court said the consortium was liable for a daily fine of $250,000 should it flout the order.
"It's a historic decision for the country and for the native communities," Antonia Melo, coordinator of the Xingu Vivo indigenous movement, said.
"It's a great victory which shows that Belo Monte is not a done deal. We are very happy and satisfied."
Fierce opposition
About 12,000 workers are due to be working on the dam's constructions, 24 hours a day, by the end of the year. Up to 22,000 are scheduled to be at the site by next year.
Work on the dam began a year ago, despite fierce opposition from local people and environmental activists.
Indigenous groups fear the dam will harm their way of life while environmentalists have warned of deforestation, greenhouse-gas emissions and irreparable damage to the ecosystem.
Belo Monte is expected to flood an area of 500sq km along the Xingu and displace 16,000 people, according to the government, although some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) put the number at 40,000 displaced.
Some 150 indigenous activists recently occupied one of the dam's four construction sites for three weeks to demand that Norte Energia honour commitments made to their communities.
The federal government plans to invest a total $1.2bn to assist the displaced, by the time the dam is completed in 2019.
Source: Aljazeera
A federal judge in Brazil has suspended construction work on a massive dam in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Judge Souza Prudente said that work could only resume on the $11bn, 11,000MW Belo Monte Dam after the indigenous communities living in the area were consulted.
The dam has been condemned by environmentalists and rights activists, who say that it would devastate wildlife and the livelihoods of 40,000 people who live in the area that would be flooded.
The government, however, says the dam will be a source of clean, sustainable energy, and that it will help fuel the country's economy.
The dam would be the world's third largest when completed on the Xingu River that feeds the Amazon.
The court noted that when congress approved the project in 2005, it called for an environmental impact study after the start of the work.
Environmental impact
Native communities had been given the right to air their concerns in parliament on the basis of that environmental-impact study.
This was not done, the court said.
It said that the Norte Energia consortium in charge of the project will be able to appeal the decision to a higher court.
Norte Energia told AFP it was awaiting formal notification of the court ruling before responding.
The court said the consortium was liable for a daily fine of $250,000 should it flout the order.
"It's a historic decision for the country and for the native communities," Antonia Melo, coordinator of the Xingu Vivo indigenous movement, said.
"It's a great victory which shows that Belo Monte is not a done deal. We are very happy and satisfied."
Fierce opposition
About 12,000 workers are due to be working on the dam's constructions, 24 hours a day, by the end of the year. Up to 22,000 are scheduled to be at the site by next year.
Work on the dam began a year ago, despite fierce opposition from local people and environmental activists.
Indigenous groups fear the dam will harm their way of life while environmentalists have warned of deforestation, greenhouse-gas emissions and irreparable damage to the ecosystem.
Belo Monte is expected to flood an area of 500sq km along the Xingu and displace 16,000 people, according to the government, although some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) put the number at 40,000 displaced.
Some 150 indigenous activists recently occupied one of the dam's four construction sites for three weeks to demand that Norte Energia honour commitments made to their communities.
The federal government plans to invest a total $1.2bn to assist the displaced, by the time the dam is completed in 2019.
Source: Aljazeera
Belo Monte Dam suspended by Brazilian appeals court
Project was illegally authorized by Congress without prior consultations with indigenous tribes, judges say
By: International Rivers, Amazon Watch, and AIDA
Date: Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Source: http://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/belo-monte-dam-suspended-by-brazilian-appeals-court-7631
Altamira, Brazil: A high-level court yesterday suspended construction of the controversial Belo Monte Dam project on the Amazon’s Xingu River, citing overwhelming evidence that indigenous people had not been properly consulted prior to government approval of the project.
A group of judges from Brazil's Regional Federal Tribunal (TRF1) upheld an earlier decision that declared the Brazilian Congress’s authorization of the project in 2005 to be illegal. The decision concludes that the Brazilian Constitution and ILO Convention 169, to which Brazil is party, require that Congress can only authorize the use of water resources for hydroelectric projects after an independent assessment of environmental impacts and subsequent consultations with affected indigenous peoples.
The ruling means that Brazilian Congress will have to correct its previous error by organizing consultations on the project’s impacts with affected indigenous peoples of the Xingu River, especially the Juruna, Arara and Xikrin tribes. Their opinions should be considered in a Congressional decision on whether to authorize Belo Monte, and in the meantime the project consortium has been ordered to suspend construction. Project consortium Norte Energia, S.A, led by the parastatal energy company Eletrobras, faces a daily fine of R$500,000, or about US$250,000, if it does not comply with the suspension. The dam consortium is expected to appeal the decision in the Brazilian Supreme Court.
“The court’s decision highlights the urgent need for the Brazilian government and Congress to respect the federal constitution and international agreements on prior consultations with indigenous peoples regarding projects that put their livelihoods and territories at risk. Human rights and environmental protection cannot be subordinated to narrow business interests” stated Federal Judge Souza Prudente, who authored the ruling.
“This latest court ruling vindicates what indigenous people, human rights activists and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office have been demanding all along. We hope that President Dilma’s Attorney General and the head judge of the federal court (TRF1) will not try to subvert this important decision, as they have done in similar situations in the past,” said Brent Millikan of International Rivers, based in Brasilia.
“This decision reinforces the request made by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in April 2011 to suspend the project due to lack of consultations with indigenous communities. We hope that Norte Energia and the government comply with this decision and respect the rights of indigenous communities,” said Joelson Cavalcante of the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), an organization giving legal support to affected communities.
The Brazilian Congress authorized construction of Belo Monte seven years ago without an environmental impact assessment (EIA). A subsequent study – produced by state-owned energy company Eletrobras and three of Brazil’s largest construction companies (Camargo Correa, Andrade Gutierrez, and Odebrecht) – was widely criticized for underestimating socio-environmental impacts, especially on indigenous peoples and other traditional communities living downstream from the huge dam that would divert 80% of the Xingu’s natural flow. The EIA was approved by Brazil’s federal environmental agency (IBAMA) in February 2010 under intense political pressure and over the objections of the agency's own technical staff.
With dam construction racing ahead since June 2011, many of Belo Monte’s forewarned social and environmental consequences are proving real. As a result, indigenous people have become more vocal in their opposition to Belo Monte.
During the United Nations' Rio+20 conference in June, indigenous leaders launched a 21-dayoccupation of the dam site, protesting against the growing impacts of the project and broken promises by dam-builders. Two weeks later, indigenous communities detained three Norte Energia engineers on tribal lands. Both protests demanded suspension of the project due to non-compliance of mitigation requirementes. Last month, the Federal Public Prosecutors’ Office filed a lawsuit calling for suspension of the Belo Monte installation license, given widespread non-compliance with conditions of the project’s environmental licenses. Given this contentious and convoluted history, the long overdue process of consultations with indigenous peoples on Belo Monte is not likely to produce a positive verdict on Belo Monte, from the point of view of indigenous peoples.
Similar conflicts over violations of indigenous rights by dam projects are emerging elsewhere in the Brazilian Amazon. Last week, in another landmark decision led by Judge Souza Prudente, a group of judges from the TRF1 ordered the immediate suspension of one of five large dams planned for the Teles Pires River – a major tributary of the Tapajos River – noting a lack of prior and informed consultations with the Kayabi, Apiakás and Munduruku indigenous peoples affected by the project.
According to Souza Prudente, "the aggression against indigenous peoples in the case of the Teles Pires Dam has been even more violent than in Belo Monte. A political decision to proceed with the construction of five large dams along the Teles Pires River was made by the Ministry of Mines and Energy with no effective analysis of impacts on the livelihoods and territories of indigenous peoples. The Sete Quedas rapids on the Teles Pires River are considered sacred by indigenous peoples and are vital for the reproduction of fish that are a staple of their diets. Yet none of this was taken into account in the basin inventory and environmental impact studies. Moreover, the government and Congress simply ignored their obligations to ensure prior and informed consultations with indigenous peoples, as determined by the Federal Constitution and ILO Convention 169."
Late yesterday, the President of the TRF1 announced his intention to overturn the decision of Souza Prudente and other federal judges regarding the Teles Pires hydroproject, marking a growing crisis within Brazil’s judiciary system over the Dilma Rousseff administration’s ambitious dam-building plans in the Amazon.
Media contacts:
- Brent Millikan, International Rivers [email protected], +55 61 8153-7009
- Andrew Miller, Amazon Watch [email protected] +1 202 423 4828
- Joelson Cavalcante, Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) [email protected], +52 55 5212-0141
Please read also the following article and take action!
Belo Monte's latest legal challenge – Will it stand?
August 14, 2012 | Maira Irigaray | Amazon Watch
The construction of the Belo Monte Dam has been suspended again! What? Could it be true? My colleague Andrew woke me up early this morning with what could be the best news ever. I needed to confirm this news and understand it before getting too excited. I remember celebrating other court-ordered suspensions of the dam only to find out shortly after that these were overturned within a matter of days or even minutes. I just wanted to be more cautious this time before calling for celebrations.
Reading the flurry of emails, I see that indeed the dam was suspended by a group of judges. I would like to acknowledge one judge in particular here, named Souza Prudente. He has a reputation for being good and fair. I was honestly pleased that the case ended up in his hands. This particular motion is one of the 16 different civil public actions filed highlighting many mistakes during all process for approving the license of this dam. This case related to the failure to obtain free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous populations. According to the Brazilian Constitution, consultations should have happened before Congress approved the construction of the dam. That never happened.
In 2006, Judge Campelo approved a preliminary injunction about indigenous consultation suspending the dam's licensing while the full case was being heard, but his decision was quickly overturned by the First Regional Federal Tribunal (known in its Portuguese acronym as TRF1). Five years later in November of 2011, the actual case was finally heard by a panel of 3 judges, where two of them absurdly ruled that the consultation could happen after construction, and not necessarily prior to anything. Meanwhile construction of the dam continued. The Public Ministry appealed this decision, and yesterday, a group of judges from the same TRF 1 court unanimously decided on the suspension of the construction. In yesterday's ruling, Judge Prudente ruled that:
"The National Congress edited decree 788 of 2005 without hearing the indigenous communities, contrary to requirements of the ILO and the 3rd paragraph of the Brazilian Constitution, and authorized construction saying that the consultation could have been done later. However there is nothing on our Constitution talking about a consultation after the fact. What it says there is about a previous consultation. That's why the license issued by IBAMA is invalid."
Reading this, you might think this is cause for celebration. I don't want to be pessimistic in this regard, but I'm a Brazilian lawyer, and I have lost faith in our justice system. We should all hope that this decision will endure, but be prepared that at any minute, it can again be overturned.
Yesterday's decision can be appealed to Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal, where some judges are President Lula appointees, and let's remember that Lula was the mentor of current President Dilma Rousseff who is the "Mother" of the Belo Monte dam project. Most absurd is that the President of the Supreme Federal Tribunal can unilaterally decide to allow construction to resume even before the Tribunal has a chance to formally rule on the case. And that is what we call justice in Brazil!
We will have to wait now and see what is said this afternoon at the press conference that TRF is holding about this decision. We will also wait to see what comes next in this story, hoping that somehow we will witness the downfall of Belo Monte dam. There should be always room for hope and for believing that we can, one way or another, win the battle for justice and human rights and stop environmental rights abuses that are being perpetrated in name of a so-called "development".
For recent updates on our work in Brazil, check out "Let the River Run."
Source: Amazon Watch
The construction of the Belo Monte Dam has been suspended again! What? Could it be true? My colleague Andrew woke me up early this morning with what could be the best news ever. I needed to confirm this news and understand it before getting too excited. I remember celebrating other court-ordered suspensions of the dam only to find out shortly after that these were overturned within a matter of days or even minutes. I just wanted to be more cautious this time before calling for celebrations.
Reading the flurry of emails, I see that indeed the dam was suspended by a group of judges. I would like to acknowledge one judge in particular here, named Souza Prudente. He has a reputation for being good and fair. I was honestly pleased that the case ended up in his hands. This particular motion is one of the 16 different civil public actions filed highlighting many mistakes during all process for approving the license of this dam. This case related to the failure to obtain free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous populations. According to the Brazilian Constitution, consultations should have happened before Congress approved the construction of the dam. That never happened.
In 2006, Judge Campelo approved a preliminary injunction about indigenous consultation suspending the dam's licensing while the full case was being heard, but his decision was quickly overturned by the First Regional Federal Tribunal (known in its Portuguese acronym as TRF1). Five years later in November of 2011, the actual case was finally heard by a panel of 3 judges, where two of them absurdly ruled that the consultation could happen after construction, and not necessarily prior to anything. Meanwhile construction of the dam continued. The Public Ministry appealed this decision, and yesterday, a group of judges from the same TRF 1 court unanimously decided on the suspension of the construction. In yesterday's ruling, Judge Prudente ruled that:
"The National Congress edited decree 788 of 2005 without hearing the indigenous communities, contrary to requirements of the ILO and the 3rd paragraph of the Brazilian Constitution, and authorized construction saying that the consultation could have been done later. However there is nothing on our Constitution talking about a consultation after the fact. What it says there is about a previous consultation. That's why the license issued by IBAMA is invalid."
Reading this, you might think this is cause for celebration. I don't want to be pessimistic in this regard, but I'm a Brazilian lawyer, and I have lost faith in our justice system. We should all hope that this decision will endure, but be prepared that at any minute, it can again be overturned.
Yesterday's decision can be appealed to Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal, where some judges are President Lula appointees, and let's remember that Lula was the mentor of current President Dilma Rousseff who is the "Mother" of the Belo Monte dam project. Most absurd is that the President of the Supreme Federal Tribunal can unilaterally decide to allow construction to resume even before the Tribunal has a chance to formally rule on the case. And that is what we call justice in Brazil!
We will have to wait now and see what is said this afternoon at the press conference that TRF is holding about this decision. We will also wait to see what comes next in this story, hoping that somehow we will witness the downfall of Belo Monte dam. There should be always room for hope and for believing that we can, one way or another, win the battle for justice and human rights and stop environmental rights abuses that are being perpetrated in name of a so-called "development".
For recent updates on our work in Brazil, check out "Let the River Run."
Source: Amazon Watch
Join thousands of others in sending a message to FUNAI and IBAMA today.
May, 2013 - Amazon Indian occupy controversial dam to demad a say
May 3, 2013 - BRASILIA (Reuters) - Amazon Indians on Friday refused to end their occupation of a building site that has partially paralyzed work on the world's third largest hydroelectric dam for two days.
Some 200 people from various indigenous groups occupied one of three construction sites of the controversial Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River on Thursday, halting work by 3,000 of the 22,000 workers on the project.
They are demanding that the Brazilian government hold prior consultations with indigenous peoples before building dams that affect their lands and livelihoods, an issue that has sparked years of protests against the Belo Monte dam.
The latest protest includes 100 Munduruku Indians from the Tapajos river, the only major river in the Amazon basin with no dams but where the government plans to build a dozen to meet Brazil's rapidly rising electricity consumption.
The government sent police and soldiers to the Tapajos River earlier this year to guard geologists and biologists whose work surveying the area for a dam was opposed by the Munduruku.
"We indigenous peoples are uniting in the fight against the hydroelectric dams because our problem over there is the same as theirs here," a leader of the group, Valdemir Munduruku, said by telephone from Belo Monte.
"We are united by the disrespect of the government, the lack of consultations, the destruction of our lands," he said.
Under Brazil's constitution, the government must hold public hearings with people affected by its projects and it maintains that consultations were held before Belo Monte was begun.
President Dilma Rousseff's government offered to send one of her ministers, Gilberto Carvalho, to speak to them on Monday as long as they met in the local town of Altamira, Munduruku said, but the Indians are not budging from the occupied site.
He said members of the local Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples would join their protest on Saturday.
The Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River has a maximum designed capacity of 11,233 megawatts, equivalent to about 10 percent of Brazil's current generating capacity.
The dam, which will cost nearly $14 billion, would be the third biggest in the world, after China's Three Gorges facility and the Itaipu dam on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.
The government considers the dam essential for Brazil to meet the power needs of an expanding economy and for limiting the need for fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal.
A spokesman for the consortium building Belo Monte, which includes Brazil's largest construction firms, said the number of protests have increased this year at the dam.
But he said the brief disruptions have not upset work plans and the first of Belo Monte's 24 turbines is still scheduled to start up in February 2015 with the rest following through 2019.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Some 200 people from various indigenous groups occupied one of three construction sites of the controversial Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River on Thursday, halting work by 3,000 of the 22,000 workers on the project.
They are demanding that the Brazilian government hold prior consultations with indigenous peoples before building dams that affect their lands and livelihoods, an issue that has sparked years of protests against the Belo Monte dam.
The latest protest includes 100 Munduruku Indians from the Tapajos river, the only major river in the Amazon basin with no dams but where the government plans to build a dozen to meet Brazil's rapidly rising electricity consumption.
The government sent police and soldiers to the Tapajos River earlier this year to guard geologists and biologists whose work surveying the area for a dam was opposed by the Munduruku.
"We indigenous peoples are uniting in the fight against the hydroelectric dams because our problem over there is the same as theirs here," a leader of the group, Valdemir Munduruku, said by telephone from Belo Monte.
"We are united by the disrespect of the government, the lack of consultations, the destruction of our lands," he said.
Under Brazil's constitution, the government must hold public hearings with people affected by its projects and it maintains that consultations were held before Belo Monte was begun.
President Dilma Rousseff's government offered to send one of her ministers, Gilberto Carvalho, to speak to them on Monday as long as they met in the local town of Altamira, Munduruku said, but the Indians are not budging from the occupied site.
He said members of the local Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples would join their protest on Saturday.
The Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River has a maximum designed capacity of 11,233 megawatts, equivalent to about 10 percent of Brazil's current generating capacity.
The dam, which will cost nearly $14 billion, would be the third biggest in the world, after China's Three Gorges facility and the Itaipu dam on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.
The government considers the dam essential for Brazil to meet the power needs of an expanding economy and for limiting the need for fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal.
A spokesman for the consortium building Belo Monte, which includes Brazil's largest construction firms, said the number of protests have increased this year at the dam.
But he said the brief disruptions have not upset work plans and the first of Belo Monte's 24 turbines is still scheduled to start up in February 2015 with the rest following through 2019.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Call for Peace and Respect in the Amazon
Thursday, May 9, 2013 - via International Rivers
Eight days ago, representatives of eight indigenous groups from around the Amazon began an occupation of the construction site of the Belo Monte Dam. They are asking the government of Brazil to respect the legal requirement of prior and informed consultation of indigenous peoples and to immediately suspend construction, technical studies and police operations related to dams along the Xingu, Tapajós and Teles Pires rivers.
The government responded by prohibiting journalists, lawyers, and even food to enter the occupation site. Last night, the Regional Federal Tribunal (TRF-1) ruled that the indigenous groups could be expelled by the use of force. This was expected to happen this morning, but as far as we know, negotiations are still underway.
Considering the risk of violent conflict at the construction sites of the Belo Monte Dam site due to last night’s court order to forcibly remove the peaceful indigenous protestors the Xingu Alive Forever Movement is asking that everyone send an urgent message to President Dilma and other authorities in the federal government demanding respect towards indigenous people and a peaceful solution to this conflict.
Please copy and past the letter below (or download the attached version) and send via email or fax to the contacts listed after the letter. Please also cc:[email protected]. Note – you will need to do this manually via your own email program, this is not an automated online action.
Thank you very much for support at this critical time!
--------------------------------------------------
Dear President Dilma and other members of the government of Brazil,
We seek a peaceful resolution for the current occupation at the Belo Monte Dam construction site.
We recognize as legitimate and support the claims of the Munduruku people, the Xingu people and other indigenous peoples of Brazil – may their right to free, prior and informed consent be respected. Their human rights are based on the democratic principle of the Brazilian state and are guaranteed both in art. 231 of the Federal Constitution and in the international instruments that have been incorporated into national legislation, such as ILO Convention 169, which is guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ratified by the government of Brazil.
The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and the Federal Public Prosecutors (MPF) have followed the negotiations of the occupation. According to FUNAI’s report, the occupation is peaceful, allowing the entry and exit of workers and food. The government's negotiating proposal was presented to the occupiers last night, May 8, and the occupiers should have the time they need to evaluate it. Also last night, the Regional Federal Tribunal (TRF-1) ruled that the indigenous groups could be expelled by the use of force.
The MPF issued a statement criticizing the court’s decision to allow the use of police force and demanded a continuation of negotiations without using violence (http://goo.gl/YrFLa).
We reject the use of force against a peaceful demonstration of indigenous people who have the courage to fight for their rights. We demand that the federal government find a peaceful resolution for this conflict within the framework of a respect for the human rights of indigenous peoples, the Federal Constitution of Brazil and international treaties.
Sincerely,
(name, title, organization)
Send to:
Ms. Dilma Rousseff
President of the Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (61) 3411-1200/1201
Fax: (61) 3411-2222
Mr. Gilberto Carvalho
Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (61) 3411.1224
Fax: (61) 3321-1994
Mr. José Eduardo Cardozo
Minister of Justice
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Paulo Maldos
Secretary of Social Affairs SG/PR
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (61) 3411-1709
Eight days ago, representatives of eight indigenous groups from around the Amazon began an occupation of the construction site of the Belo Monte Dam. They are asking the government of Brazil to respect the legal requirement of prior and informed consultation of indigenous peoples and to immediately suspend construction, technical studies and police operations related to dams along the Xingu, Tapajós and Teles Pires rivers.
The government responded by prohibiting journalists, lawyers, and even food to enter the occupation site. Last night, the Regional Federal Tribunal (TRF-1) ruled that the indigenous groups could be expelled by the use of force. This was expected to happen this morning, but as far as we know, negotiations are still underway.
- We need your help to support the ongoing occupation of Belo Monte and ensure that the Brazilian government respects indigenous people’s rights and does not start a violent conflict at the dam site.
Considering the risk of violent conflict at the construction sites of the Belo Monte Dam site due to last night’s court order to forcibly remove the peaceful indigenous protestors the Xingu Alive Forever Movement is asking that everyone send an urgent message to President Dilma and other authorities in the federal government demanding respect towards indigenous people and a peaceful solution to this conflict.
Please copy and past the letter below (or download the attached version) and send via email or fax to the contacts listed after the letter. Please also cc:[email protected]. Note – you will need to do this manually via your own email program, this is not an automated online action.
Thank you very much for support at this critical time!
--------------------------------------------------
Dear President Dilma and other members of the government of Brazil,
We seek a peaceful resolution for the current occupation at the Belo Monte Dam construction site.
We recognize as legitimate and support the claims of the Munduruku people, the Xingu people and other indigenous peoples of Brazil – may their right to free, prior and informed consent be respected. Their human rights are based on the democratic principle of the Brazilian state and are guaranteed both in art. 231 of the Federal Constitution and in the international instruments that have been incorporated into national legislation, such as ILO Convention 169, which is guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ratified by the government of Brazil.
The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and the Federal Public Prosecutors (MPF) have followed the negotiations of the occupation. According to FUNAI’s report, the occupation is peaceful, allowing the entry and exit of workers and food. The government's negotiating proposal was presented to the occupiers last night, May 8, and the occupiers should have the time they need to evaluate it. Also last night, the Regional Federal Tribunal (TRF-1) ruled that the indigenous groups could be expelled by the use of force.
The MPF issued a statement criticizing the court’s decision to allow the use of police force and demanded a continuation of negotiations without using violence (http://goo.gl/YrFLa).
We reject the use of force against a peaceful demonstration of indigenous people who have the courage to fight for their rights. We demand that the federal government find a peaceful resolution for this conflict within the framework of a respect for the human rights of indigenous peoples, the Federal Constitution of Brazil and international treaties.
Sincerely,
(name, title, organization)
Send to:
Ms. Dilma Rousseff
President of the Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (61) 3411-1200/1201
Fax: (61) 3411-2222
Mr. Gilberto Carvalho
Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (61) 3411.1224
Fax: (61) 3321-1994
Mr. José Eduardo Cardozo
Minister of Justice
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Paulo Maldos
Secretary of Social Affairs SG/PR
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (61) 3411-1709