Indigenous representatives from the Xingu region of Pará delivered, 5 November, to the President of the Republic, a letter from the indigenous peoples of the region repudiating the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric on the Xingu river, and protesting the fact that the indigenous peoples had not been consulted on the project.

 

Unanimous disapproval

The letter was approved in the Indigenous Assembly, which reunited 14 peoples of the Xingu region between October 28 and November 2, in the Indigenous Land Capoto, in Jarina, Mato Grosso. In the event, the indigenous peoples discussed the negative impacts that the Belo Monte hydroelectric could generate for the indigenous peoples.

 

"We are unanimous in our position against the dam because it is going to diminish the fish, the game,” emphasized  Kaiapó Yapariwa. He explains that the representatives of the Federal Government involved with the enterprise did not come to their region to explain the possible impacts and listen to indigenous opinion. “They have to listen because poor people of the region are going to suffer more. The government is speaking from a distance, without hearing the people,” he completed.

 

Diabolical

On November 1^st, during the meeting of the peoples of the Xingu, the indigenous representatives held a demonstration in opposition to the technical opinion on the project issued by the National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs (Funai). The Funai considers the enterprise to be viable, despite technicians of the very foundation as well as specialists from throughout the country highlighting the negative and irreversible effects that the construction could bring to the peoples of the Xingu region. The indigenous peoples also protested against the Minister of Mines and Energy,  Edson Leão, who stated that those who opposed the hydroelectric construction were “diabolical”.

 

The letter will also be delivered to the Casa Civil and the Ministries of Mines and Energy, Environment, Justice; and also to the Ibama and Ministério Público Federal.

 

More Debates

On days 6 and 7 of November, on the island of Ressaca, in the Volta Grande region of the Xingu river, other social groups that could be affected by the Belo Monte hydroelectric will discuss the impacts of the project. The riverine peoples, fishermen, indigenous and subsistence farmers will be heard by the Procurators of the Republic and by reporters for the DHESCA Platform for Human Right to the Environment, Marijane Lisboa and Guilherme Zagallo. Specialists who point out the technical flaws in the project and the impacts being caused by the hydroelectric will participate in the meeting.

 

Some of the principal problems of the Belo Monte project were presented in the letter delivered by Dom Erwin Kräutler – bishop of the Xingu and president of Cimi – to president Lula.

 

Brasilia, 5 November of 2009

Conslho Indigenista Missionário

Indigenist Missionary Council

 

                                                        ***

 

06/11/2009 – 12:59 – Letter of the indigenous peoples to president Lula opposing Belo Monte

 

Aldeia Piaraçu, 01 of November of 2009

 

To His Excellency the President of the Republic

Luis Inácio Lula da Silva

 

With copy to:

Ilmo Sr. Minister of Mines and Energy, Edson Lobão

Ilmo Sr. Minister of the Environment, Carlos Minc

Ilmo Sr. Minister of Justice, Tarso Genro

Ilmo Sr. President of the National Foundation on Indigenous Affairs, Marcio Augusto Meira

Ilmo Sr. President of Ibama, Roberto Messias

Ilmo Sr. Procurador da República do Ministério Público Federal, Rodrigo T. da Costa e Silva

 

Ref.: Indigenous Peoples – Mebengôkre (Kayapó), Xavante, Yudjá (Juruna), Kawaiwete (Kaiabi), KisêdjÇe (Suiá), Kamaiurá, Kuikuro, Ikpeng, Panará, Nafukua, Tapayuna, Yawalapiti, Waurá, Mehinaku and  Trumai say NO TO BELO MONTE.

 

Ngô Beiê Ket Kumrem Kadjy

]

Exmo Sr. Presidente da República

Luis Inácio Lula da Silva

 

We, 212 leaders of the Indigenous Peoples Mebengôkre (Kayapó), Xavante, Yudjá (Juruna), Kawaiwete (Kaiabi), KisêdjÇe (Suiá), Kamaiurá, Kuikuro, Ikpeng, Panará, Nafukua, Tapayuna, Yawalapiti, Waurá, Mehinaku e Trumai, inhabitants of the Bacia do Rio Xingu and of the surrounding regions, reunited in an assembly in the village of Piaraçu (TI Capoto/ Jarina) since 28/10/2009, do not accept the construction of the Belo Monte and of any Hydroelectric on the Bacia do Rio Xingu.

 

We repudiate the technical opinion of the National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs (Funai), memorandum n^o709/ GAB/ CGPIMA/ 09, in reference to the Indigenous Component of the Environmental Impact Report (RIMA) of the enterprise denominated Aproveitamento Hidrelétrico Belo Monte (AHE Belo Monte).

 

Contrary to what is stated in this opinion, in which the Funai “considers that the enterprise in question is viable”, the report by the panel of specialists that analyzed the EIA-RIMA, make evident the economic, environmental and social inviability of this enterprise.

 

In the same way, contrary to what is stated in the opinion by the Funai, in which is said, “even so the communities have actively participated in the public hearings, as refers to their positioning in relation to implementation of the AHE Belo Monte”, we state that this is untrue. We protest against the absence of dialogue of the organs of the government with our populations, which have not received the minimum attention and information, to which they have the right, throughout the entire process of licensing of this work. In spite of the government having announced that this work is ready to be licensed, our communities, as well as the riverine communities of the Bacia do Rio Xingu, have not had access to the environmental impact report (EIA-RIMA) so that we would be able to evaluate them in an adequate way and nor to the public consultations held during the month of September in the cities of Brasil Novo, Vitória do Xingu, Altamira and Belém.

 

The process of environmental licensing by the hydrelectric Belo Monte has been conducted in violation of the constitutional right of prior consultation to the indigenous populations that would be affected directly and indirectly by this enterprise. That right is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution and reinforced by Article 6 of the Convention 169 of the ILO, ratified and incorporated by Brazilian legislation in the year 2003 and by articles 19 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples approved by Brazil in 2006.

 

We never impede the sustainable development of the white man, but we do not accept that the government make a decision of such great irresponsibility and that would result in irreversible consequences for this region and our peoples, profoundly disrespecting the ancestral inhabitants of this river and the model of development that we defend.

 

In this way, we demand that the government cancel, definitively, the implementation of this hydroelectric. In case the government decides to initiate the work for construction of the Belo Monte, we alert that there would be a warrior action on the part of the indigenous peoples of the Xingu. The life of the operators and the indigenous peoples would be at risk and the Brazilian government would be held responsible.

 

In protest to the violations of our rights we block for an indeterminate time the functioning of the ferry that effects the crossing of the Xingu river of the roadway BR 080/MT 322, which commutes to the region of the roadway Belém-Brasilia to roadway region Cuiabá-Santarém.