Empower Indigenous Brazilians to Save their Amazon

As the festivities of Carnival entertained most people in Brazil last month, residents of the Xingu River basin received devastating news. The company building Belo Monte - in the midst of their Amazon homeland - requested the operating license for the dam. This action brings the reality of the dam ever closer, including flooding of the Xingu River basin, further relocation of families, lack of adequate compensation, and the end of traditional livelihoods and cultures.

But it also defies the requirements defined by Brazil’s environmental agency when it granted the installation license to Norte Energia for the dam. Homes that have been built are falling apart and thousands of families do not yet have a new home. Schools and health centers have not been built or are not operational. Electrical infrastructure is inadequate or non-existent. Sanitation systems are poorly constructed – in fact, many people are complaining that the smell in the new neighborhoods is unbearable. Even moreso relocation efforts are not respecting family and community relationships, causing the disintegration of these important social structures.

Furthermore, the influx of dam workers and Norte Energia’s efforts to pacify opposition to the dam has wreaked havoc on the communities as described in a recent article in “The Guardian.” Social ills such as prostitution, drug abuse, and violence are now commonplace. In a recent interview with Amazon Watch, the long-time leader of the Xingu Alive Forever movement, Antonia Melo, describes the impacts as “an extremely humiliating situation that has turned people’s hopes of a better life into a nightmare.

Despite years of protests and campaigning, indigenous communities continue to demand justice. In February they blockaded the primary highway into the region and are adamant that they will continue to seek recognition and demand compliance by the State and the company.

AIDA remains committed to representing the people of the Xingu communities in international forums. Our advocacy for their human rights is as important as ever - not only for the residents of the Xingu River, but for the precedent it will set throughout Latin America where hundreds of dams are being proposed or constructed, very often without recognition of the negative human and environmental impacts.

Legal work requires patience, as results don’t come immediately; therefore a long term commitment is a must. Thank you so much for supporting AIDA and our efforts to right the wrongs of the Belo Monte dam. We welcome your donation for this important work.

With gratitude, thank you from all of us at AIDA!