Belo Monte Auction Goes Forward after Court Overrules Second Injunction - Massive Protests Underway

International Rivers and Amazon Watch

April 20, 2010

Massive Protests Underway Today in Nine Cities in Brazil

Brasilia, Brazil - 
Today's bidding process for the controversial Belo Monte Dam project was marked by protests and confusion as a second injunction issued late yesterday suspended the dam auction overnight, throwing the bidding process into a state of chaos just minutes before it was set to begin. Throughout Brazil, indigenous, environmental and social movements organized protests in more than nine cities in eight states. Internationally, phone calls begun pouring into Brazilian Embassies, condemning the government's interference in the judicial system and attempts to push through the project at all costs.

Thousands of people including indigenous people, the Brazilian Movement of Dam-Affected People, the Landless Workers Movement, and environmentalists are engaging in coordinated simultaneous protest actions in Brasilia and in the capital cities Fortaleza, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre, Porto Velho, Belo Horizonte, Belém, Campina Grande, and the city of Altamira, which would be partially flooded by the Belo Monte reservoir.

Meanwhile, boats full of indigenous people, including Kayapo, began arriving on the proposed dam site located on Pimental Island on the Xingu River's Big Bend to establish a permanent village to block dam construction.

Protesting the dam project in Brasilia, Greenpeace and indigenous peoples blockaded the entrance of ANEEL, the Brazilian national electrical energy agency. In Belem, 700 local people occupied the offices of Electronorte. And near the town of Altamira, the Landless Workers Movement and the Movement of Dam-Affected People (MAB) blockaded the TransAmazon Highway.

The Belo Monte controversy captured worldwide headlines last week after Avatar director James Cameron and actors Sigourney Weaver and Joel David Moore visited the Xingu region and joined protests by indigenous and locally affected populations in Brasilia against the dam project. The controversy has dominated news headlines in Brazil.

"The Lula government is clearly pressuring the courts to approve Belo Monte against the rights and interests of indigenous people and the local populations of the Xingú, and it's our lives at stake. Even so, the people affected by this dam are united and determined to stop the project, we will not give up this fight," said Sheyla Yakarepi Juruna of the Juruna people, who met with judges on Monday urging the President of the Appellate Court for Region 1, Jirair Meguerian, to uphold the injunction.

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Bloodshed next over Amazon dam?
Protest camp being built after Brazil awards construction
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 2 hours, 7 minutes ago

BRASILIA, Brazil - Indigenous groups warned of bloodshed after Brazil, which fought off three court rulings, on Tuesday awarded the rights to build the world's third-largest hydroelectric dam in the Amazon rain forest.

The bidding for the $11 billion Belo Monte dam was halted three times before a final appeal by the government allowed the winning bidder, a private-public consortium, to be announced.

About 500 protesters gathered outside the building where the bidding took place to condemn the project, saying it will cause serious social and environmental damages along the Xingu River, which feeds into the Amazon River.

Luis Xipaya, a local native leader speaking from Altamira near the proposed dam site, said 150 Xikrin Kayapo Indians were already en route to build a protest village on the construction site.

"There will be bloodshed and the government will be responsible for that," Xipaya said.

The government dismisses claims that the project will have a negative impact on the environment or the local community.

"Belo Monte is the most studied hydroelectric plant in the world," Mines and Energy Minister Marcio Zimmermann said.

'Avatar' director among critics
Critics include James Cameron, director of the blockbuster movie "Avatar," who has been in the area this month to meet with indigenous leaders.

"Avatar" depicts a fictitious Na'vi race fighting to protect its homeland, the forest-covered moon Pandora, from plans to extract its resources.

Environmentalists and indigenous groups say Belo Monte would devastate wildlife and the livelihoods of 40,000 people who live in the area to be flooded.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva insists that the dam is essential, and says it will provide clean and renewable energy to feed increasing demand.

Opponents organized protests across Brazil on Tuesday to condemn the project. Amazon Watch, a San Francisco-based group that works to protect the rain forest and the indigenous people living there, said thousands of people are engaging in coordinated protests in nine cities, including Altamira, which would be partially flooded by the Belo Monte reservoir.

Cameron said the proposed dam "is a very, very important, pivotal battleground" because it will set the stage for the development of 60 more dams.

Environmentalists also argue that the energy generated by the dam will largely go to big mining operations, instead of benefiting most Brazilians.

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36673041/ns/world_news-world_environment/