Doubts, Protests Prevail in Belo Monte

Kayapó leader on the Xingu River (Christian Poirier/Amazon Watch)

Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA stepped further into controversy last week when it granted Belo Monte Dam consortium Norte Energia a full installation license to begin construction. By doing so, the agency drew the Belo Monte project further into what will be a long, drawn-out quagmire of doubt, legal and technical problems, growing social unrest, and – more likely than not – large cost overruns. The fight over the Belo Monte Dam is not over. It's just getting good.

Lawsuits Continue

The full installation license sparked an 11th – count 'em, 11 – lawsuit from Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutor's office. The Public Prosecutors had warned IBAMA over the past year that by issuing an installation license without proof that Norte Energia fulfilled each of the dam's 40 prerequisites would make them liable to legal action.

Now, the troubled IBAMA, criticized over the years for doing too little to stop illegal land grabs and deforestation mainly due to constant budget shortfalls, has buckled further under government pressure to approve the dam without assuring that the prerequisites were met. By disregarding its own legal process mandated by federal law, IBAMA seems headed down a misguided path of fast-track licensing for controversial infrastructure, rather than diligent compliance with the law. Without a doubt, IBAMA is kicking the project's can of environmental problems far down the road. 

Concerns Spread to the UN

A protestor in São Paulo decries IBAMA's shameful actions (Elie Yuri)

The installation license was granted in blatant disregard to the recommendation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR),which advised the government to suspend the dam in order to ascertain whether or not Free, Prior, and Informed Consent was properly obtained from indigenous tribes who will be directly impacted by the project. The Brazilian government reacted harshly against the IACHR, threatening to withdraw its commissioner if the group did not change its opinion.  Secretary-General Insulza of the Organization of American States (OAS), loosely affiliated with the IACHR, publicly backtracked on the opinion, saying the commission would "revisit" the recommendation.

But, the doubts over the lack of indigenous consent for the project have festered and are growing into an even greater blight on President Dilma's human rights record. Community representatives last week filed a complaint at the United Nations Human Rights Council, which may investigate the lack of consent obtained by the government. 

Protests Continue Unabated

Homepage image of Kayapo warriors (Christian Poirier/Amazon Watch)

After news of the installation license was broadcast over the internet, street protests against Belo Monte began to erupt in São Paulo, Rio, Salvador, Belém, and in the Xingu basin itself, where last weekend legendary Kayapó chief Raoni convened men and women from the tribe to protest in the town of Colider, dancing and chanting war songs, vowing to put their lives on the line to resist Belo Monte.

Apparently, Norte Energia doesn't care much for what the tribes themselves have to say. Rather, it sounds like plans for them have already been made.  In an interview yesterday with O Globo, Norte Energia's Director of Construction Luiz Fernando Rufato was quoted giving what sounded like a neo-colonial blurt aimed at indigenous people: "It's inevitable that the indios, eventually, have to change their way of life. Are they going to live their whole lives hunting with bows and arrows and living in villages?" If that sounds like blatant disregard for the sovereign right of indigenous peoples to self-determination, well, it is.  

The public is becoming increasingly aware of how due diligence has been sacrificed to please private interest groups wedded with the government who want this dam built at any cost.  As more and more become aware of the back-handed maneuvers the government pulls – including violating its own Constitution and packing federal tribunals to overturn civil lawsuits on the turn of a dime – the Dilma administration is setting itself up for a massive embarrassment.  

Resistance against Belo Monte has grown substantially inside Brazil since this time last year, and more and more people are furious at how the government has handled this project. Keep track of the news, because the problems with Belo Monte are just beginning.