Brent Millikan

Brent Millikan's picture
International Rivers
Job title:
Amazon Program Director
Tagline:
Rivers, Forests and People of the Amazon
Personal bio:
My work at International Rivers focuses on supporting movements of dam-threatened peoples in the Amazon and alternative energy solutions.
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 - 10:53
 Hydrogeologist recom
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2019 - 10:32
Over 250 organizations around the world joined forces to stand up for their rivers before the launch of last week's World Hydropower Congress. Read their remarkable statement.
Date: Wednesday, May 2, 2018 - 16:17
From March 17th to 22nd, thousands of activists from over 30 countries gathered in Brasilia for the Alternative World Water Forum (FAMA). The event brought together an impressive array of groups, including indigenous peoples, fishermen, traditional riverbank communities, popular movements from the periphery of urban centers, union workers opposed to the privatization of water and sanitation systems, and environmental and human rights NGOs and students, among others.
Date: Friday, August 18, 2017 - 15:35
 In a major victory for indigenous peoples, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously this week in favor of indigenous land rights in two separate lawsuits, setting an important legal precedent.
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2017 - 19:36
 "It's as if you sent a message that environmental crime pays."
Date: Saturday, March 11, 2017 - 11:14
Good news!
Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2017 - 10:46
 Parade's message angered agri-business lobby, but provided an important opportunity for participants to highlight the importance of indigenous rights and environmental protection  In a colorful and highly energized samba parade at Rio de Janeiro's world-famous Carnival on Monday morning, Imperatriz Leopoldinense,
Date: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 - 22:54
Two weeks ago, at the 20th anniversary celebration of Democracy Now!, Noam Chomsky reminded the crowd that, despite the astounding toxicity of the
Date: Thursday, August 20, 2015 - 14:10
Last week, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff took aim at indigenous rights and the environment in a desperate attempt to divert attention from widening corruption scandals. Fortunately, NGOs and social movements are fighting back.
Date: Thursday, July 2, 2015 - 14:11
For over a year, Brazil has been immersed in an unprecedented corruption scandal centered on state-owned oil company Petrobras.
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2015 - 15:46
When Brazilian energy planners proposed to choke the Amazon’s Tapajós River and its tributaries with dozens of large hydroelectric dams, they underrated a formidable foe: the Munduruku people. The largest indigenous group in the Tapajós Basin, the Munduruku are proving to be sophisticated adversaries who are throwing a wrench in the dam industry's plans.
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2015 - 12:53
On March 8th, news broke that Dalton Avancini, president of construction empire Camargo Correa, would confirm that his company paid R$100 million (US$30 million) in bribes to two political parties – President Dilma Rousseff’s Workers’ Party (PT) and it’s main ally in the ruling coalition, PMDB – in exchange for construction contracts for the Belo Monte Dam.
Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - 20:22
Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 - 17:07
On June 4th, two air force planes descended upon the capital city of Brasília, carrying aboard an unusual group of passengers: over 140 indigenous people, mainly members of the Munduruku tribe from the Tapajós River along with a small number of representatives of Xingu tribes (Xikrin, Arara, Kayapó). For the indigenous delegation, the purpose of the trip was to meet with Minister Gilberto Carvalho, General Secretary of the President’s Office, to discuss their demands for consultations and consent regarding a series of mega-dams on the Tapajós, Teles Pires and Xingu rivers, both planned and (illegally) under construction.
Date: Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 19:04
Statement by Mukuku Xikrin, indigenous spokesperson on Day 10 of the occupation of Pimental coffer dam, Belo Monte. "Today we are in day 10 of the occupation.We had the meeting on Thursday with Norte Energia but did not reach any agreement..."
Date: Friday, June 22, 2012 - 06:32
The last two days in Rio have been more action-packed than ever. On Wednesday, the day of the global march of the People’s Summit, Jason Rainey and I met our colleagues from the Movimento Xingu Vivo at daybreak in the Sambadrômo - site of the Rio samba school parades where indigenous peoples and other popular movements are camped out.
Date: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - 19:57
Today was another action-packed and memorable day in Rio. In the morning, we co-organized an event at the People’s Summit on debunking the myth of destructive dams as clean energy. Soon after the meeting ended, we headed out to an adjacent beach at Aterro do Flamengo to participate in a human banner.
Date: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - 03:02
I arrived in Rio de Janeiro late Sunday evening, following six incredible days in the Xingu. 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.”
Date: Friday, March 30, 2012 - 16:47
The Tapajós is a region of breathtaking beauty, amazing biodiversity and a diversified population of indigenous peoples. Yet the Tapajós and its principal tributaries are threatened by an unprecedented series of dams and industrial waterways (hidrovias) that would cause immense social and environmental damage to the Amazon.
Date: Monday, March 7, 2011 - 21:14
Almir Narayamoga Surui and Sheyla Yakarepi at protest outside BNDES office in LondonOver the past two weeks, I had the privilege of joining indigenous leaders from Brazil and Peru on a tour of four cities in Europe, aimed at raising public awareness and stepping up international support for their campaigns against socially and environmentally destructive dams in the Amazon. The indigenous delegation, also accompanied by colleagues from Amazon Watch and Rainforest Foundation-UK, had a busy and varied agenda in each of the cities we visited, including public seminars, street demonstrations, debates with officials from governments, corporations and multilateral agencies and meetings with partners – not to mention rushing through airports, metro and train stations in order to arrive on time at the next way station.
Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - 16:54
Bishop Krauter at assembly of Indigenous peoples in Altamira, May 2008Great news! Bishop Erwin Kräutler has just received the Right Livelihood Award, often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize. "Dom Erwin", as he is known in Brazil, is Bishop of the Xingu, the largest diocese in the country and President of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) of the Catholic Church. Krautler been an unwavering ally of indigenous peoples and social movements opposed to the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River for over two decades. He was honored at an awards ceremony at the Swedish Parliament yesterday “for a lifetime of work for the human and environmental rights of indigenous peoples and for his tireless efforts to save the Amazon forest from destruction.”