On the Road from the Xingu to Rio

Indigenous Brazilians call on President Dilma Rousseff to cancel the Belo Monte Dam during the Xingu+23 gathering, June 2012

Photo by Brent Millikan/International Rivers

I arrived in Rio de Janeiro late Sunday evening, following six incredible days in the Xingu. As can easily happen in Brazil, the trip from Altamira to Rio felt a bit like traveling from one country to another.

The Xingu+23 encounter was intentionally held right before Rio+20 to heighten attention to the glaring human and environmental consequences of the Brazilian government’s obsession with building the Belo Monte Dam at any cost. The event is also serving as a concrete example of the huge gap between discourse and reality when the subject is “clean energy” and the new “Green Economy.” The name Xingu+23 makes reference to the 1989 historic meeting of indigenous peoples to resist Belo Monte’s predecessor, Kararaô.

A woman enjoys the newly reconnected waters of the Xingu River.

Photo by Brent Millikan/International Rivers

Organized by the Movimento Xingu Vivo, the Xingu+23 encounter brought together a variety of groups whose livelihoods have been threatened and increasingly devastated by Belo Monte – indigenous peoples from the Xingu and Tapajós rivers, fishermen, family farmers, urban dwellers, etc. They were joined by a diverse group of allies – from Catholic priests to human rights and environmental activists from all over Brazil and many other countries. The event focused in Santo Antônio, a village near Altamira in the process of being wiped off the map by one of the huge encampments of Belo Monte.

Activists fighting the Ilisu Dam in Turkey and Belo Monte in Brazil.

Photo by Brent Millikan/International Rivers

The Xingu+23 encounter was a success. There are many images that stick in my mind of moments from the past several days: a child holding a candle in the opening mass held under a small grove of mango trees in celebration of the village’s patron saint, Santo Antônio; the indigenous leader Juma Xipaya, 8 ½ months pregnant, in tears, vowing to continue the struggle against Belo Monte, fearing for the future of her child during a public hearing in Altamira; demonstrators opening a channel across an earthen coffer dam to symbolically free the Xingu River at the first light of morning over the Xingu; our friends Güven Eken and Dicle Tuba from the campaign against the Ilisu Dam and other destructive dams in Turkey, holding a banner showing the unification of the campaigns to protect the peoples and rivers of Amazonia and Mesopotamia.

To get a sense of the event in the Xingu, check out this short video produced by the gifted documentary filmmaker Todd Southgate, set to a song created for the movement by renowned Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil:

And see photos more from Xingu+23 and Rio:

Jason and I are now in the midst of a whirlwind of activities here in Rio. During this week, we’ll do our best to keep you posted on our activities.