Indigenous

Amazon Indians Rally to Oppose Xingu Dams in May: Journalists Invited

Monday, April 7, 2008
Press Advisory One Thousand Amazon Indians will Rally to Oppose Xingu Dams: Journalists invited to Mass Gathering of Indigenous People in May The largest indigenous gathering in the Brazilian Amazon in nearly twenty years will take place between May 19 and 23 in the city of Altamira, Pará, to demonstrate opposition by indigenous peoples and their allies to hydroelectric dams being planned for the Xingu River. Journalists from all over the world are invited to attend the gathering, which is expected to bring together 1,000 indigenous people from the Xingu and other regions of the Amazon, in ad

A Knife in the Water

Tuira Kayapó, Altamira Gathering, 1989
Tuira Kayapó, Altamira Gathering, 1989 Paulo Jares Yesterday´s announcement that José Antônio Muniz Lopes will be the new president of Brazil´s state electric holding company Eletrobrás has caused tremors in the villages of indigenous people living along the rivers of Amazonia. Muniz, despite his long experience as an engineer for Brazilian state electric companies, is best known as having received a close shave by the Kayapó woman warrior, Tuíra, at the 1989 Altamira gathering protesting dams on the Xingu. The legendary scene filmed by international television crews shows Tuíra

The Sacred and the Profane: Pray for Rain

Ikpeng meet over Paranatinga II Dam
Outside my window, the rain falls in buckets. Saint Peter, chief of the heavens must be heeding the prayers of the druids of Brazil´s Mines and Energy Ministry, who labor tirelessly to prevent the country´s power grid from falling victim to blackouts, as it did in 2001-2002. I don´t have anything against anyone praying for rain, even if it´s to fill the reservoirs of hydroelectric dams, but that doesn´t explain why a devout country like Brazil insists on defiling others´ religions to build dams that really don´t even generate that much energy. Ikpeng meet over Paranatinga II Dam

Dams Threaten Biodiversity and Indigenous People in Panama

Saturday, December 15, 2007
From December 2007 World Rivers Review This rainy season, a mushy mess is sliding down the Changuinola River Valley. Huge Volvo machines are tearing up old mountain roads, causing tons of chocolate-brown run-off to flow into nearby streams. The giant machines, operated by Panamanians and other Latinos, are opening new roads for the construction of the first of four large dams planned for this basin. About 100 new houses are being built for the dam's laborers, and a dozen finer homes for the project managers from Vattenfall, a Swedish construction company. The explosion of dam constr

Águas sem barragens

Wednesday, January 1, 2003
Campanha interestadual contra a implantação de barragens na bacia Araguaia-Tocantins

Araguaia & Tocantins Rivers

Xavante indigenous meeting on threats to Araguaia River
The Araguaia and Tocantins rivers flow from the central plateau northward to the southern channel of the Amazon just upstream from Belém. Along the river live 11 distinct indigenous ethnic groups, totaling more than 14,000 people. The basin is also especially rich in fish species. The Brazilian government plans to construct 80 dams in the basin – 12 large dams on the mainstem of the Tocantins (4 already built), 7 on the Araguaia (which is still undammed), and 14 other large dams and dozens of smaller dams on upstream tributaries.

Video: Carlos Chen Interview (3 mins)

Guatemalan activist and community leader Carlos Chen talks about the construction of a dam on the Chixoy River, and its devastating effect on the local people.

The Chixoy Dam Destroyed Our Lives

Monday, March 1, 2004
Chapter from Human Rights Dialogue: "Environmental Rights", Published by Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs. Describes the tragedy of the Maya-Achí people of Guatemala, victims of a World Bank-funded hydroelectric dam, and their efforts to reclaim their lives. Download document

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