A message from the Amazon about the Belo Monte Dam

[redpaintednavi]

A message from the Amazon about the Belo Monte Dam


A message from Sheyla Juruna, Juruna Tribal Leader
YouTube - A Message from Sheyla Juruna

On behalf of the Juruna Indigenous people of the Xingu River Basin, I am writing to ask for your support to help stop the Belo Monte Dam. At any moment, the Brazilian government could break ground on the Belo Monte Dam, causing irreparable impacts for our communities, the environment and the global climate. We are at a critical time in the campaign to stop the Belo Monte Dam and it is essential that the international community take action now to defend the Amazon and support indigenous peoples' rights.

The Xingu is home to over 25,000 indigenous people from 18 ethnic groups, including the Juruna, Arara, Xikrin, Kayapó, Xipaya, Kuruaia, Asurini, and Parakanã. It is also home to thousands of riverbank communities and approximately 100,000 people in the city of Altamira – 1/3 of which will be flooded if the Belo Monte Dam is built. If the Dam is built, it will divert water from the Big Bend, known as the "Volta Grande", of the Xingu – a 100km stretch of the river that is the cradle of Xingu's indigenous civilizations. This destruction would be devastating to the Juruna and Arara as we will be displaced by flooding or not able to survive on our ancestral lands because our river will be diverted and dried out. The Pakisamba village where my Juruna brothers and sisters rely on the river for fishing and boat transportation will be especially affected.

The government says that Juruna will not be directly or seriously affected, but we do not believe this. We have not been consulted and we do not want the government to speak for us. We are against the Belo Monte Dam and we are committed to fight with our bodies and souls... to defend our lives and the life of our river.

Please join us by signing the petition to the Brazilian government today.
Amazon Watch

The government is moving quickly to give the green light to begin the construction of roads, work-camps and airports, while other environmental and social conditions in question are being reviewed by the courts. We cannot allow for any construction to begin as this will pave the way for the first of many dams, including 60 more dams planned in the Brazilian Amazon alone, to be built. Even if all the environmental and social conditions are met, Belo Monte will still cause irreversible harm that we cannot allow to happen. What we need to do is encourage our government to defend the Amazon, respect indigenous peoples' rights, invest in energy efficiency and alternative energy.

Please help us defend our river and future generations by signing this petition.
Amazon Watch

Please help us gather over 40,000 petitions – the approximate number of people that would be affected by the Belo Monte Dam if built – so we can make a special delivery to our government before any construction begins. If you have already signed the petition, please watch the video and share the petition with at least five friends or family members.

Thank you for your support!

For the Amazon and our future generations,

Sheyla Juruna
Juruna Tribal Leader

[Human No More]

Already signed, but people need to do this... please do

[Raiden]

WRAAA!!!

No dams for you!!!

C'mon guys! We can't go blow **** up on huge flying lizards, but we can do this!

[Tsyal Makto]

Done.

[Human No More]

I just wish I could do more

[CyanRachel]

Originally Posted by Human No More

Already signed, but people need to do this... please do

My sentiments exactly...and I signed it too.

[tm20]

got this email today, i guess it's over

"Yesterday morning, the Brazilian government illegally gave the green light for construction of the Belo Monte Dam.

Brazilians – including mainstream media personalities – are furious and are publicly demanding their government stop this disastrous, expensive, and unnecessary project.

Please add your voice in support of the Brazilians calling for cancellation of the Belo Monte Dam.

The government of new Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is off to a bad start, blatantly breaking the laws she recently swore an oath to uphold. As you read this, the Federal Public Prosecutor in Brazil is filing the 10th lawsuit against this project, in defense of the environmental procedures in Brazil's Constitution that clearly illustrate that the approval was granted illegally.

Please call your nearest Brazilian Consulate or Embassy and let them know that you stand with the Brazilian people – Belo Monte Dam must be stopped now!

For the people, water and life of the Amazon,

Brent Millikan
Amazon Program Director"

[Marvellous Chester]

Little ********! This is why petitions and the like don't work, corrupt and stupid as the day is long. Eywa's wrath upon her.

[Tsyal Makto]

Anyone who still believes that the governments work for the masses is a ****ing idiot.

[redpaintednavi]

We just have to keep on fighting.

Avaaz - STOP BELO MONTE

STOP BELO MONTE—NO MEGA-DAM IN THE AMAZON



Belo Monte would be a project bigger than the Panama Canal, flooding at least 400,000 acres of rainforest, displacing 40,000 indigenous and local people, and destroying the priceless habitats of countless unique species -- all to create power that could easily be generated through investments in energy efficiency.

Pressure on President Dilma against the dam is rising, the President of Brazil's Environmental Agency just resigned, refusing to issue Belo Monte a construction license and challenging strong political pressure to go forward with this disastrous project. Environmental specialists, indigenous leaders and civil society agree that Belo Monte will be a massive environmental scar in the heart of the Amazon.

Construction could start next month - let's raise the pressure on President Dilma to stop this dam! Sign the petition now, before the bulldozers move in -- it will be delivered to Brasilia!

[auroraglacialis]

BBC News - Brazil: Indigenous tribes protest against Amazon dam

An indigenous leader delivered a petition opposing the project signed by more than half a million people.
[...]
The government says the Belo Monte dam is crucial for development and will create jobs, as well as provide electricity to 23 million homes.
[...]
Licences still have to be granted for the actual building of the plant, but last month Brazilian environment agency Ibama gave the go-ahead for the clearing of the land at the site of the planned dam.
[...]
Ireo Kayapo said that if his tribe were to be driven from its land, "there'll be war and blood will be spilled".

Sad really. once again indigenous people have to do the fighting. This may show again that if the people in power really want to do something, they do not really give that much about petitions. But let's see what comes from it - maybe there is the slightest chance that they will change their minds still - half a million people signed after all - but somehow I doubt it :,( - jobs, electricity, development, which region that aspired to become a full blown industrialized area can pass up on that just for some people who "selfishly want to use a lot of land". They rather do this of course:

Mr Lobao said the population which would be affected by the Belo Monte dam would be compensated and resettled.

This is the same crap colonizers have given indigenous for centuries and is just known to lead up to all kinds of frustrating developments with settlements of poor displaced indigenous people developing problems with alcohol and abusive behaviour, health issues and the works.
I am getting really angry at this - when dies it ever stop? Did no one ever learn anything from the past? DAMN YOU!