Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-29-2011

Abstract

On June 1, 2011, the Brazilian environmental agency, the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA), gave the government the green light to proceed with construction of the controversial Belo Monte dam. After 30 years of planning and struggle against opposition to the project, the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant will be built in the Xingu river basin. This would be the third-largest such facility in the world, after the Three Gorges Dam in China and the Itaipú dam, shared by Brazil and Paraguay. IBAMA conceded the license despite national and international criticism and a recommendation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that dam construction be suspended until the rights of local indigenous communities are guaranteed. The environmental group Amazon Watch and Amnesty International (AI) argue that constructing Belo Monte will drive more than 40,000 people from their homes, including the Juruna and Arara tribes whose way of life is based upon the Xingu River.

Language

English

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