Brazil mega-dam battle rages

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Despite growing domestic and international opposition, the Lula government of Brazil plans to go forth with the construction of the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River, a tributary of the Amazon that flows through the northeastern part of the country. The construction of the megadam will mean the flooding of an estimated 500 square kilometers of intact rainforest as well as the forcible displacement of tens of thousands of Indigenous and traditional peoples, who depend upon the Destruction of the rainforest will mean a loss of global carbon sink and source of oxygen as well as local habitat and home for wildlife and humans. When the vegetation is flooded, it will decompose under water in anoxic conditions and release vast amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than If allowed to go forward, the monstrosity—the third largest of its kind in the world—would divert nearly the entire flow of the Xingu, drying up its Volta Grande or “Big Bend” and its tributary, the Bacaja River, affecting two indigenous peoples’ reserves. It would also impact upstream fish stocks, a principal food source for native folk. Needless to say, no one consulted them about whether or not this ecological disaster should be built in violation of their customary rights Bent upon the further maldevelopment of the Brazilian economy, powerful economic interests are demanding the hydro-generated electricity to power the expansion of bauxite mines, aluminum smelters, and other industrial plants in the region—regardless of the environmental and human costs. Transnational metal and mining concerns that would profit from the project include Alcoa and Vale as well as energy giants GDF Suez, Electrobas, and Neoenergia. They plan to fund it with lines of credit from the Brazilian Development Bank, assisted generously At present, determined Kayapo Indians are planning to defend their homeland from the bulldozers and concrete mixers with bows and arrows. Clearly, they cannot win on their own. That is why it is important that climate-crisis activists, environmentalists, and supporters of native sovereignty bring international pressure to bear upon the Lula government to halt this engineering colossus before it destroys yet another swath of rainforest and the hydrology of the region. n riparian ecosystem for their survival.

carbon dioxide. to their ancestral lands. with public pension funds.

(continued from page 1: “Environmental disaster in the Gulf”) they could save money,” said Mike Papantonio, one of the lawyers representing Gulf shrimpers and fishermen, who have not been able to work because of the spill (The New York Times, May 3, 2010).

This is building to become one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The numbers of fish and other aquatic life killed may never be known. The damage to the economies of the Gulf States could range into the billions of dollars. And this is the “best case scenario.”

A large storm or hurricane could carry the oil sludge into Lake Pontchartrain, ruining the crab industry there—and even threaten the city of New Orleans with a catastrophe worse than Katrina. If the oil slick extends far enough south, the oil could be caught up in the Gulf Stream and carried up the Atlantic coast as far as North Carolina and Virginia. If it moves north, it could foul the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Fishing and shrimping in the Gulf could be destroyed for years. The Port of New Orleans could be closed for a long period—with coffee, bananas and other products unable to be brought ashore.

All of this is taking place mere weeks after President Obama announced his support for increased off-shore drilling in U.S. waters. Clearly, oil wells in the oceans and waterways must be shut down and dismantled worldwide.

You can be sure that the administration

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Tony Savino / Socialist Action