Belo Monte Dam in Brazil - WITH UPDATES

Started by Toruk Makto, April 26, 2010, 11:17:03 AM

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Kì'eyawn

Signed, and shared on facebook.  Frapo rivey nìmeoauniaea!
eo Eywa oe 'ia

Fra'uri tìyawnur oe täpivìng nìwotx...

Hufwe Atxur

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'Oma Tirea

Signed fpi frapoyä meoauniaea, fte...

Quote from: Kì'eyawn on October 28, 2010, 02:14:41 PM
Frapo rivey nìmeoauniaea!

...frakrr!  Sìlpey oe tsnì tsa'u srung seri...

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ÌTXTSTXRR!!

Srake serar le'Ìnglìsìa lì'fyayä aylì'ut?  Nari si älofoniru rutxe!!

Redpaintednavi

#23
I have signed and also sent the link to many other people. Hope the petition will make an impression on Brazilian authorities.

Toruk Makto

Quote from: Redpaintednavi on November 05, 2010, 06:32:16 AM
I have signed and also sent the link to many other people. Hope the petition will make an impression on Brazilian authorities.

I hope so, too.   By the way, irayo nìtxan for all your support in this board. It's great to have you here!

ta Markì

Lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpongu
Na'vi Dictionary: http://files.learnnavi.org/dicts/NaviDictionary.pdf

Toruk Makto


The Brazilian government is on the eve of granting permission to begin construction on the Belo Monte Dam, which would carve the world's third largest hydroelectric dam into the heart of the Amazon.

We need to take action now before it's too late.

The government is moving quickly to give the green light to begin the construction of roads, work camps and airports, steamrolling environmental and social concerns under review in Brazilian federal courts. Just yesterday the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor (MPF) recommended that IBAMA (Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency) not issue any construction license until all social and environmental conditions are met.

If construction on the Belo Monte Dam begins, it will pave the way for the irreversible destruction of the Xingu River and its people, including 18 indigenous groups such as the Juruna, Arara, Xikrin, Kayapó, Xipaya, Kuruaia, Asurini, and Parakanã. It will also pave the way for the construction of at least 60 more dams that are planned in the Brazilian Amazon alone.

If built, the Belo Monte Dam will destroy over 100,000 acres of rainforest and uproot over 40,000 of indigenous and local people. But it is not too late to stop this irreparable destruction!

Please join us in an International Day of Action on November 16th to Stop the Belo Monte Dam!

Join us in flooding the phone lines of the Brazilian Embassy and Consulates in the U.S. and take part in actions in key cities to encourage the Brazilian government to defend the Amazon, respect indigenous peoples' rights, and invest in energy efficiency and alternative energy.

It is not too late to stop the Belo Monte Dam!

Thank you for your support!

For Justice in the Amazon,

Christian Poirier
Brazil Campaigner

Lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpongu
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Toruk Makto

#26


From Amazon Watch...


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 11TH, 2010

MEDIA CONTACTS:

   * Astrid Puentes, AIDA: +1 510 984 4610, [email protected]
   * Andressa Caldas, Justiça Global: +55 21 2544 2320 / 21 8187 0794, [email protected]
   * Renata Pinheiro, Xingu Alive Forever Movement: + 55 93 9172 9776, [email protected]
   * Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch: +1 510 666 7565, [email protected]
     

Indigenous and Riverbank Communities Call on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Suspend the Massive Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon

As the government prepares to issue the dam's construction license, communities urge the Commission to denounce illegalities in licensing and violations of human rights


Washington, DC – Today international and Brazilian human rights organizations submitted a formal petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), denouncing grave and imminent violations upon the rights of indigenous and riverine communities that will be affected by the construction of Belo Monte Dam Complex on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. Signed by the Xingu Alive Forever Movement and as well as representatives of affected communities, the petition urgently calls on the Commission to adopt "precautionary measures" that would compel the Brazilian government to halt plans to build the dam, slated to be world's 3rd largest.

The petition documents the Brazilian government's violation of international treaties, ignoring the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples from the lower Xingu Basin, including the Arroz Cru, Arara, and Juruna communities. It also highlights major threats posed by the Belo Monte Dam, including forced displacement of communities without insuring their free, prior and informed consultation, threats to food security and access to drinking water. The petition concludes: "Despite the gravity and irreversibility of the impacts of the project to local communities, there were no appropriate measures taken to ensure the protection of human rights and the environment."

"The Belo Monte dam will cause extensive damage and gravely violate the rights of everyone living along the Xingu River," stated Antônia Melo, a leader and spokesperson of the Xingu Alive Forever Movement. "This project will uproot entire indigenous and riverine communities. The government is not listening to us, nor making any attempt to protect our rights. This is why we have asked the IACHR to intervene."

The IACHR petition comes on the same week as prosecutors from Brazil's Federal Public Ministry (MPF) sent a document to Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA advising that the agency not issue an installation license until the dam-building consortium Norte Energia can comply with an obligatory set of social and environmental conditions. Norte Energia and the Brazilian government have been pushing IBAMA to issue a "partial" installation license, which would allow the project to break ground without complying with legally binding conditions on the dam's provisional license.

"The government doesn't even know what will happen to the communities on the Xingu River," said Andressa Caldas, the director of Justiça Global, a signatory to the petition. "We have seen assessments from environmental agencies – like IBAMA and [Brazil's indigenous agency] FUNAI – and those from groups of specialists, that the construction of Belo Monte will increase illness and poverty, while causing a surge of disorderly migration to the region that will overload health, education, and public safety infrastructure."

"It worries us how the Brazilian government is ignoring national and international standards to accelerate this project, even at the expense of human rights and the environment," affirmed Astrid Puentes Riaño, the co-Director of the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA). "Moving forward without taking precautions required by international norms will only result in the irreversible destruction of a critically important region of the Amazon."
In addition to calling attention to the illegalities and human rights violations associated with the Belo Monte Dam, the petition cites an important precedent, pointing out that in 2009 the IACHR implemented similar precautionary measures, leading to the suspension of the Chan hydroelectric dam in Panama due to its forced displacement of indigenous communities.



Lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpongu
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Taronyu

Good.

I tweeted about this on the LN twitter account. Hopefully, the word is getting out.

Toruk Makto

#28
Many thanks. This thing is being rammed through the Brazilian government. I wouldn't be surprised if the ones doing the ramming were the ones lined up to profit the most from this monstrosity.




(EDIT:Spelling corrected. Spell check doesn't work on BlackBerry ::) )

Lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpongu
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Kì'eyawn

Quote from: Markì on November 11, 2010, 11:17:05 PM
Many thanks. This thing is being rammed through the Brazilian government. I wouldn't be surprised if the ones doing the ramming were the ones lined up to profit the most from this monstrocity.

Alas, that is generally how these things work  >:(
eo Eywa oe 'ia

Fra'uri tìyawnur oe täpivìng nìwotx...

Toruk Makto

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 17TH, 2010

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Leila Salazar-Lopez, 415-487-9600 ext. 327 or 415-341-5509 (cell), [email protected]
Christian Poirier in Brazil +011-55-8565 5343, [email protected]


JUST RELEASED:
James Cameron's "A Message from Pandora"
a Short Film about a Real AVATAR Battle
in the Amazon Rainforest

The 20-minute Feature Available on the AVATAR Extended Collector's Edition DVD Casts Timely Spotlight on the Battle to Stop the Belo Monte Dam in Brazil

Watch Trailer at www.messagefrompandora.org

Los Angeles, CA – James Cameron, the creator of AVATAR, has produced a short new film called "A Message from Pandora" – released this week — about an epic battle to stop the massive Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. The twenty-minute short which is a special feature on the AVATAR Extended Collector's Edition DVD, casts a timely spotlight on this real life AVATAR story at a critical moment when the Brazilian government is on the verge of deciding whether construction can begin on the world's 3rd largest hydroelectric dam project.

The indigenous tribes who inhabit the region say that the Xingu River is sacred and that the Brazilian government is violating their rights. They together with the riverbank settler populations are determined to defend their sacred river and their way of life and are asking the world to join them in stopping the dam.

James Cameron, his wife Suzy Amis Cameron and cast members of AVATAR including Sigourney Weaver and Joel David Moore traveled to the Xingu River in March and April of this year accompanied by Amazon Watch. They visited indigenous and riverbank communities who would be adversely affected by the Belo Monte Dam Complex. Moved by the parallels between AVATAR and the frontline battles taking place in the Amazon, Cameron made a commitment to support the campaign led by local populations along the Xingu. He also committed to bring this story to global audiences.

"I hope AVATAR fans will watch "A Message from Pandora" and join me in this critical fight to urge the Brazilian Government to reconsider the Belo Monte dam and to encourage governments everywhere to choose greener energy alternatives like energy efficiency, wind and solar energy," said James Cameron. "In AVATAR, I refer to Earth as "the dying Planet." In reality, our Earth IS in peril. The quality of life for our future generations on this planet depends on the actions we take over the next decade. There is no time to lose," added Cameron.

The $17 billion project would divert nearly the entire flow of the Xingu River along a 62-mile (100km) stretch; its reservoirs would flood more than 100,000 acres of rainforest and local settlements, displace more than 40,000 people and generate methane – a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The dam project is one of more than 60 dams the Brazilian government plans to build in the Amazon over the next 20 years.

Studies by respected Brazilian energy experts have shown that by investing in energy efficiency between now and 2020, electricity demand will be reduced by 40 percent. The power saved is the equivalent of 14 Belo Monte dams. Brazil has enormous potential for solar and wind energy. Studies have shown that renewable energy is economically viable for Brazil and could account for 20 percent of country's electricity by 2020, compared to only 1.3 percent today. Such a move would create 8 million new jobs, far more than the Belo Monte Dam.

The Brazilian government is on the verge of issuing the construction license after a 22-year battle, giving the Norte Energia consortium the green light to begin the construction of roads, work camps and airports. Opposition to the dam is growing within Brazil. Last week prosecutors from Brazil's Federal Public Ministry (MPF) urged Brazil's Environmental Protection Agency (IBAMA) not issue an installation license until Norte Energia can comply with an obligatory set of social and environmental conditions. IBAMA's technical experts recently issued a long awaited "parecer tecnico" or technical assessment on the Belo Monte Dam Complex and recommended strongly against a partial installation license until upwards of 40 social and environmental conditions are met. It remains to be seen whether IBAMA will agree with its technical staff and delay issuing the license. Meanwhile, Norte Energia consortium says it plans to break ground before the year-end.

"With the added exposure that A Message from Pandora brings, we hope that AVATAR fans in Brazil and around the world will take action to pressure the President Lula and President-Elect Dilma Rouseff to cancel the Belo Monte dam. This project is an ecological, social and financial disaster subsidized by the Brazilian public. There are so many better ways of meeting Brazil's energy needs," said Atossa Soltani, Executive Director of Amazon Watch.

For more information on the Belo Monte Dam and other real-life Pandoras on Earth, visit:

   * www.amazonwatch.org
   * www.messagefrompandora.org
   * www.pandorasonearth.org
   * xinguvivo.org.br

Lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpongu
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Prrton



I was really pleased to see it included; and I bet the Brazilian Government was NOT!

It was quite moving to hear the Kayapo chief respond to the snake story with "We have a lot of breath."


'Oma Tirea

Eltur tìtxen si nìngay... nìmun.

Quote from: Prrton on November 17, 2010, 05:07:05 PM

I was really pleased to see it included; and I bet the Brazilian Government was NOT!


Feelin' all the same 8) :)

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ÌTXTSTXRR!!

Srake serar le'Ìnglìsìa lì'fyayä aylì'ut?  Nari si älofoniru rutxe!!

Toruk Makto

International Rivers, Amazon Watch and the Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    2010-12-06


Brent Millikan, International Rivers: +55 61 8153 7009, [email protected]
Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch: +1 510 666 7565, [email protected]
Renata Pinheiro, Xingu Alive Forever Movement: +55 93 9172 9776, [email protected]


Outspoken Critic of the Belo Monte Dam in Brazil, Bishop Erwin Kräutler Receives "Right Livelihood Award"
for a Lifetime of Defending the Amazon Rainforest and Indigenous Peoples



Belem, Brazil – International Rivers, Amazon Watch and the Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre celebrate the news that Bishop Erwin Kräutler will be one of four recipients of this year's Right Livelihood Award, often referred to as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Bishop Kräutler has been an unwavering ally of indigenous peoples and social movements opposed to Brazil's Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River for over two decades. He is being honored at an awards ceremony at the Swedish Parliament today "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."

Antônia Melo, coordinator of the Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre, will accompany Don Erwin at the ceremony where both will speak about the Lula government's latest attempts to initiate the devastating dam project at any moment, in blatant violation of human rights and environmental legislation, and the movement's actions to defend the Xingu river and its people.

Erwin Kräutler, the Bishop of Xingu and the President of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) of the Catholic Church in Brazil, is one of Brazil's most important defenders of and advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples. Kräutler, who is motivated by liberation theology, is known for helping secure the inclusion of indigenous peoples' rights into the Brazilian constitution. Since the 1980s, he has served an important role in the movement to stop the Belo Monte Dam, one of South America's most destructive energy projects.

The 31st Right Livelihood Award Ceremony will take place in the Swedish Parliament on December 6 at 6pm CET. A press conference with the 2010 Laureates will be held earlier that day at 9:30am CET at the International Press Center of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm. A live broadcast of the ceremony will be available on the Right Livelihood Awards website. Click here for more information, including the complete program of activities.

Amazon Watch, Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre and International Rivers extend our warm congratulations to Don Erwin for this deserved honor. The award brings a much needed media spotlight to the growing resistance by local indigenous and riverbank communities to the controversial Belo Monte Dam complex during this critical time in the campaign.

Quotation:

    "I'm convinced that another world is possible, in which indigenous and poor people finally shall live in dignity and peace." – Bishop Erwin Kräutler

Lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpongu
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Toruk Makto

http://amazonwatch.org/news/2011/0127-brazil-green-lights-amazon-dam

Brazil Green Lights Amazon Dam Disregarding Environmental Laws and Local Opposition
New Dilma Government Approves Fast-Track Forest Clearance and Commencement of Controversial Belo Monte Construction Site

International Rivers, Friends of the Earth – Brazilian Amazonia.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | January 27, 2011

For more information, contact:
Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch, + 1 510 666 7565, [email protected]
Brent Millikan, International Rivers, + 55 61 8153 7009, [email protected]
Renata Pinheiro, Movimento Xingu Vivo Para Sempre, +55 (93) 9172-9776, [email protected]

Brazília, Brazil – The Brazilian government has issued a "partial" installation license allowing the Belo Monte Dam Complex to break ground on the margins of the Amazon's Xingu River despite egregious disregard for human rights and environmental legislation, the unwavering protests of civil society and condemnations by its Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF). The license was approved by Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA despite overwhelming evidence that the dam-building consortium Norte Energia (NESA) has failed to comply with dozens of social and environmental conditions required for an installation license.

The "partial" installation license, non-existent under Brazilian environmental legislation, will allow for NESA to open access roads and initiate forest clearing at dam construction sites in an area of 2,118 acres. "The partial installation license granted by IBAMA is intended to transform Belo Monte, a notoriously illegal and catastrophic dam project and a huge waste of taxpayers' money, into a fait accompli," said Christian Poirier, Brazil Program Coordinator at Amazon Watch.

The risky $17 billion Belo Monte Dam Complex will divert nearly the entire flow of the Xingu River along a 62-mile stretch. Its reservoirs will flood more than 100,000 acres of rainforest and local settlements, displace more than 40,000 people and generate vast quantities of methane – a greenhouse gas at least 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

The decision follows the recent resignation of IBAMA's president Abelardo Bayma, who allegedly departed amidst intense political pressures from the Ministry of Mines and Energy and President Dilma Rousseff.

The consortium also benefited from a subsidized $640 million start-up loan from the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) for equipment purchases before a partial installation license was issued, countering legal procedures. The bank has come under increasing scrutiny from the Public Prosecutor's office and NGOs due to alarming evidence that approval is based on political grounds, often downplaying problems of economic viability and compliance with social and environmental safeguards.

According to Public Prosecutor Ubiratan Cazetta, "IBAMA is putting the region at a high social and environmental risk by granting a license allowing installation of the construction site while not requiring compliance with legally-mandated safeguards. No effective preparations have been made to absorb the thousands of migrants who will be attracted to the region in search of employment in dam construction. We're very concerned about what could happen here."

Fierce opposition by local inhabitants to Belo Monte has not wavered. "For us, Belo Monte's installation license is a sign of the government's deepening authoritarianism, as it continues to steamroll over environmental legislation and human rights," said Antônia Melo, a leader and spokeswoman for the Xingu Alive Forever Movement (MXVPS). "The government seeks to build this dam at any cost in order to benefit corporate interests at our expense. However, we will not stop fighting to preserve the Xingu, our national patrimony."


Lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpongu
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Ekirä

Keftxo nìtxan nì'aw. :(

Do you know of any further action people can take? :-\


Toruk Makto

I don't know, except to keep flooding the Brazilian consulates everywhere with postal and email.

I have a dark suspicion that this is going to get very ugly, very soon. The Xingu River regional tribes are not going to take this laying down and I would not be surprised to see trucks rolling down those new roads with arrows stuck in their tires. I am not trying to be humorous here, either.

 ta Markì

Lì'fyari leNa'vi 'Rrtamì, vay set 'almong a fra'u zera'u ta ngrrpongu
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Kì'eyawn

 Faysawtute! >:(

:(  This is, indeed, very sad only.

James Cameron should airlift the entire Avatar fanbase (lì'fyaolo' and otherwise) into Brazil, so we can help the people there.  I'd go in an instant.
eo Eywa oe 'ia

Fra'uri tìyawnur oe täpivìng nìwotx...

Ekirä

Quote from: Kì'eyawn on January 27, 2011, 02:18:42 PM
Faysawtute! >:(

:(  This is, indeed, very sad only.

James Cameron should airlift the entire Avatar fanbase (lì'fyaolo' and otherwise) into Brazil, so we can help the people there.  I'd go in an instant.

Kop oe. This is not fair at all. :(