Lula

A mobilization against the signing of the Concession for Belo Monte marked the inauguration of the refurbished Presidential Palace on Thursday, August 26th, 2010. The act took place in the plaza of the three powers in Brasília, with the participation of indigenous leaders, representatives of environmental organizations like Greenpeace, the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and civil society. The goal of the mobilization was to protest against the signing of the Decree of the Grant for the Concession of the Belo Monte Dam Compl

President Lula wittingly oversimplifies the issue of Belo Monte.  As an intelligent man, he knows that what is still keeping doubts about the hydroelectric plant alive has nothing to do with the visit of a “gringo filmmaker.” Simplifications are great during election time, but the truth is that the dam’s administrative process is occurring without the necessary environmental, fiscal or economic caution. In a democracy, it is necessary to sway public opinion. Belo Monte is being shoved on the country very authoritatively, in a hurry, that doesn’t make any sense except to the construc

Speech by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a rally for the Belo Monte Dam and the “development” of the Xingu Region Altamira – PA, June 22nd, 2010 I, comrades, learned over the course of my life, to do politics and I learned to understand people’s behavior. It’s not possible that we don’t take into consideration… and here, I think it’s important that the press register this democratic act that we’re doing here. Certainly, a half-dozen well-intentioned young people, but certainly with intentions, maybe not thinking of Belo Monte… If they had the patience t

Unfazed by entrenched environmental opposition, a threat of war by local indigenous groups, and celebrity lobbying by a handful of Hollywood stars, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is putting the pedal to the metal on a controversial hydroelectric project slated for the country’s Amazon jungle region. Planned for the Xingu River, a major tributary of the Amazon River, the Belo Monte Dam project promises to add a staggering 11,200 megawatts of electricity to Brazil’s grid. Once completed, it would be the world’s third-largest hydroelectric complex after the Three Gorges Dam