Eletrobrás

Kayapó Warrior Readies for a Response at the Belo Monte Dam Occupation (Ivan Canabrava)

Early this morning on the Xingu River outside of Altamira, an estimated 600 indigenous people from 21 tribes, as well as fishermen, occupied the construction site of the Belo Monte Dam, demanding a definitive end to the project. Events are very fluid on the ground, and internet has been out in the region, so information is coming in bit by bit. We know that early on, the mobilization declared their intent to not leave the site until the Belo Monte Dam was cancelled for good.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the Regional Federal Tribunal reconvened 10 days after judge Selene Maria de Almeida voted that the Belo Monte project licenses are illegal because the government failed to consult the affected indigenous tribes prior to congressional approval, thereby violating Article 231 of the Constitution. At the reconvened trial, the second of three judges of the tribunal, Judge Sebastião Fagundes de Deus, voted against judge de Almeida's decision. 

The Xikrin Kayapó recently told Public Prosecutor Felicio Pontes about the government's lack of prior consultations (Marcelo Salazar/Instituto Socioambiental)

On Monday, federal judge Selene Maria de Almeida voted in a landmark opinion in Brazilian courts that the Belo Monte Dam licenses are illegal and must be cancelled due to what is now widely-accepted evidence that the Brazilian government did not hold proper consultations with indigenous tribes that would be affected by the project. De Almeida argued that while the dam reservoirs do not flood indigenous territories, the project's diversion of the Xingu River will directly impact the tribes' abilities to reproduce physically, culturally, and economically, as 80% of the Xingu River would be channeled away from their lands to the reservoirs. The vote shined a stark spotlight on the project's astronomical risks, and on a growing gap between the implementation of Brazil's legislative framework and the standards of international best practice.  



The Brazilian government has built a legal house of cards for Belo Monte

In June of this year in Foz do Iguaçú, Brazil, at the International Hydropower Association's bi-yearly Congress, Eletrobras Director Valter Cardeal declared: "All of the indigenous people, even the Kayapó who live upstream from the area of impacts, are in favor of Belo Monte."  Cardeal made the declaration with a straight face, speaking to the audience of dam industry CEOs, financial officers, and government representatives who were probably ecstatic to hear such a development.  Too bad it wasn't true.  Sitting in the front row were indigenous leaders Sheyla Yakarepi Juruna and Patxon Metuktire.  In fact, they said, indigenous people were not properly consulted.  And that's against the law.

Dilma and José Sarney talking business

Back in August, just as expected, a couple of beggars walked in through the exit door of the Belo Monte Dam Complex.  Clear evidence of the project's economic inviability had led Brazil's largest construction firms – Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa, and Andrade Gutierrez – to withdraw from the project auction on April 20th. As a result, the government was forced to trot a few puppet companies into the auction to make believe that private investors were actually interested in the dam. The winners of the auction – Norte Energia, S.A., a rag-tag collection of midsize businesses – surprised everybody, except the government. The truth is that Lula had always planned to bankroll the dam by using state subsidies, even without private investors. When confirmation of the subsidies got around, Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa, and Andrade Gutierrez begged the government to be let back into what would be the world's third-largest hydroelectric dam. And they got their wish. 

Remnants of Arcediano Dam on the Santiago River in Mexico, Cancelled by Local Efforts (Leila Salazar-Lopez)

I've just returned from the Rivers for Life 3 meeting at Temacapulín, Mexico, where 300 delegates from across the world joined to learn from each others' experiences in campaigning against hydroelectric dams, and to share strategies in building energy and water alternatives. The story of Temacapulín is eerily similar to that of the Belo Monte Dam: government neglect, no free, prior, and informed consent, and local officials who are desperately working with local residents to stop a horrendous project. 

Lula Gets Botox Treatment (Revista Veja)

Read part 1 of this blog.

Have you ever known someone who has had botox? In the procedure, needles are stuck in your face and a bacterial neurotoxin byproduct – basically, botulism – is injected under your skin. And away go the wrinkles. The Brazilian hydro industry has been injecting plenty of botox into inviable projects in the hopes of giving grandfathered dams a nice clean, green sheen.  However, sometimes, despite how much botox is applied, some wrinkles just won't go away.  

Cinta-larga tribe

Headlines around the world this week again brought attention to the impacts of dams in the Amazon on indigenous people. But this time the culprit wasn’t the monstrous Belo Monte Dam planned for the Xingu River, but a smaller dam being built on the Aripuanã River in the state of Mato Grosso. The issue highlights the heightened tensions between indigenous people in the Amazon and those who seek to exploit the area’s natural resources.

Trojan Horse

Last week ANEEL released the final list of 18 companies participating in the Belo Monte consortium.  Everyone expected some big name investors to carry the USD$17 billion project.

How about Vale, the world's largest mining company? Vale controls Carajás, the largest iron mine in the world, and is one of the largest energy consumers in Brazil.  What about Alcoa, the darling of the United States metals companies? Alcoa has sought to expand its Brazilian bauxite and alumina production after large drops in market share over the past few years.  How about Odebrecht, the global construction firm that has faced dozens upon dozens of lawsuits in Brazil? Odebrecht practically wrote the book on Belo Monte, after all, by writing the dam's environmental impact assessment with Eletrobras.