http://understory.ran.org/2008/05/25/no-to-dams-in-brazilian-amazon-report-from-%e2%80%9cencontro-xingu%e2%80%9d/ The Understory is the official blog of Rainforest Action Network. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:54:41 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 http://understory.ran.org/2008/05/25/no-to-dams-in-brazilian-amazon-report-from-%e2%80%9cencontro-xingu%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-288469 Dancing for the Xingu River « Nuclear and Indigenous Items of Interest Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:27:47 +0000 http://understory.ran.org/?p=1045#comment-288469 [...] sent to the hospital and received 6 stitches from the wound he received on his arm,” explains a report by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). “People cheered! Then the station ran an interview of a FUNAI (Bureau of Indian Affairs) [...] [...] sent to the hospital and received 6 stitches from the wound he received on his arm,” explains a report by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN). “People cheered! Then the station ran an interview of a FUNAI (Bureau of Indian Affairs) [...]

]]> http://understory.ran.org/2008/05/25/no-to-dams-in-brazilian-amazon-report-from-%e2%80%9cencontro-xingu%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-226607 indy Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:06:02 +0000 http://understory.ran.org/?p=1045#comment-226607 “Fighting for the Amazon” ALTAMIRA, Brazil—In this sweltering urban outpost on the banks of the Xingu River, one of the major tributaries of the Amazon River, a large official-looking billboard looms over one of the main streets downtown. Two hands are clenched in a friendly handshake, next to a colorful sketch of an unobtrusive dam traversing the crystalline waters of the river. “United For Progress,” it reads, “United for Belo Monte Dam.” Despite the cheerful propaganda, not everybody in town appears to be as optimistic. “Out Belo Monte!” and “Death to the Monster Dam!” are just a few of the slogans splashed as graffiti across the city that tell a very different story. For five days at the end of May, thousands of indigenous Brazilians, riverbank dwellers, fishers and environmental and social movement activists, along with religious leaders and sympathetic local government officials, came together for the Xingu Forever Alive Encounter, a historic gathering to oppose a hydroelectric project that, as conceived, would be the third-largest dam in the world. The Brazilian government, along with a number of massive construction conglomerates, calls the dam an essential component of Brazil’s energy policy and necessary to keep the fast-growing economy humming. Activists and indigenous Brazilians call it a reckless project that will displace tens of thousands of people who depend on the river for their livelihood, will destroy migratory fish stocks and will channel energy primarily to the aluminum mines and the growing number of multinational extractive industries that are setting up shop in the Amazon. To view the rest of this article, see http://www.indypendent.org/2008/07/17/fighting-for-the-amazon/ “Fighting for the Amazon”
ALTAMIRA, Brazil—In this sweltering urban outpost on the banks of the Xingu River, one of the major tributaries of the Amazon River, a large official-looking billboard looms over one of the main streets downtown. Two hands are clenched in a friendly handshake, next to a colorful sketch of an unobtrusive dam traversing the crystalline waters of the river. “United For Progress,” it reads, “United for Belo Monte Dam.” Despite the cheerful propaganda, not everybody in town appears to be as optimistic. “Out Belo Monte!” and “Death to the Monster Dam!” are just a few of the slogans splashed as graffiti across the city that tell a very different story.
For five days at the end of May, thousands of indigenous Brazilians, riverbank dwellers, fishers and environmental and social movement activists, along with religious leaders and sympathetic local government officials, came together for the Xingu Forever Alive Encounter, a historic gathering to oppose a hydroelectric project that, as conceived, would be the third-largest dam in the world. The Brazilian government, along with a number of massive construction conglomerates, calls the dam an essential component of Brazil’s energy policy and necessary to keep the fast-growing economy humming. Activists and indigenous Brazilians call it a reckless project that will displace tens of thousands of people who depend on the river for their livelihood, will destroy migratory fish stocks and will channel energy primarily to the aluminum mines and the growing number of multinational extractive industries that are setting up shop in the Amazon.
To view the rest of this article, see http://www.indypendent.org/2008/07/17/fighting-for-the-amazon/

]]> http://understory.ran.org/2008/05/25/no-to-dams-in-brazilian-amazon-report-from-%e2%80%9cencontro-xingu%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-210418 daniel lucio Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:26:57 +0000 http://understory.ran.org/?p=1045#comment-210418 what a beautiful opportunity to be a part of this gathering! the thought of so many indigenous tribes coming together from so far, sharing of their cultures, and uniting in the resistance is inspiring. thank you for sharing of your experience, leila! what a beautiful opportunity to be a part of this gathering! the thought of so many indigenous tribes coming together from so far, sharing of their cultures, and uniting in the resistance is inspiring. thank you for sharing of your experience, leila!

]]>