The Xingu Forever Alive

Altamira quiet before the start of the Encounter (Glenn Switkes)

Today, one thousand Brazilian Amazon Indians and their allies begin a five-day protest of proposed hydroelectric dams for the Xingu River, in the Brazilian Amazon. This will be the largest indigenous gathering in the Amazon in nearly twenty years, and the collaborating groups are poised to prevent further development of the Belo Monte Dam, which, if constructed and put to use, would severely impact more than 500 indigenous people on the Xingu and Bacajá rivers, and would displace more than 16,000 people. In all probability, the highly inefficient dam would require building additional dams upstream, affecting thousands of Indians. The gathering will take place from May 19th to May 23rd in the city of Altamira, Pará.