From: Jeremy Hance, MONGABAY.COM
Published June 2, 2010 09:13 AM

'Prepare for war': tensions rising over Brazil's controversial Belo Monte dam

Tensions are flaring after Brazil's approval of the Belo Monte dam project last month to divert the flow of the Xingu River. The dam, which will be the world's third larges, will flood 500 square miles of rainforest, lead to the removal of at least 12,000 people in the region, and upturn the lives of 45,000 indigenous people who depend on the Xingu. After fighting the construction of the dam for nearly thirty years, indigenous groups are beginning to talk of a last stand.

"I have asked my warriors to prepare for war and I have spoken of this with other tribes from the Upper Xingu. We will not let them [build the Belo Monte Dam]," Chief Raoni Metuktire, of the indigenous Kayapo tribe in Brazil, told the French Channel TF1. He is currently traveling through Europe appealing for support in putting the brakes on the project.

Another group of Kayapo, led by Chief Megaron Txukarramãe, have set up a blockade of a ferry crossing on a major Amazonian highway over the Xingu River in Mato Grosso in protest against the dam. As of last week the blockade was nearing its 30th day.

Chief Megaron recently called Brazil's President Lula "enemy number one" of indigenous people in Brazil, and has said that his people are prepared to "die fighting for our rights."

The Brazilian government argues that the dam, which was originally proposed in the 1970s under a military dictatorship, is necessary for increasing energy demands in the country. The 11 to 17 billion dollar dam will provide energy to 23 million homes, yet during three to four months of the year the dam will only run 10-30 percent capacity due to low waters. Critics argue that for the dam to be at all viable—and economical—other massive dams will need to be built on the Xingu River as well.

"Indigenous people are determined to disrupt the 'business as usual' model of destructive development projects that ruin the environment and their traditional ways of life," said Atossa Soltani of Amazon Watch, an environmental and indigenous-rights group, in a press release. "Indigenous groups from the Xingu Basin have sent the Brazilian government a clear and resounding message that they will not allow the Belo Monte Dam to move forward. A Brazilian and international coalition of organizations and social movements stands in solidarity with these groups, and is mobilizing further social and legal actions."

The issue recently gained wider media attention as James Cameron, director of Avatar, and several cast members protested against the dam in Brazil. Cameron also visited indigenous groups in the area that will be directly impacted by the dam.

Although construction has not yet started, the government says that the dam will be online by 2015. While hydroelectricity usually does not produce as much carbon as burning fossil fuels, studies have shown that dams, especially those in the tropics, emit significant amount of methane—a greenhouse gas which is approximately 20 times more potent than carbon—due to rotting vegetation in reservoirs.