The''evacuation“ of the Kayapó-tribe!!

[David Trd1]

passed on from a friend..
been happening since march...dont know if its been posted already..if so consider this a bump in awareness.



This picture should travel around the world !!!
The "evacuation" of the Kayapó-tribe – an indian tribe which is native to this place in the amazon area in the brazilain Mato Grosso has just begun. The building of the hydroelectric dam of Belo Monte is enabled and „allowed“ now, against and despite of numerous massive protests, -ignoring more than 600 000 signatures that had been collected !
This is like a death sentence for the people that live at the large riverbend of the Xingu-river. Belo Monte will flood and drown all in all 400 000 hectare of rainforest – an area which is bigger than the Panama Canal. 40 000 people of indigenous or local population groups are going to be displaced. The living space of numberless animals and plant species is going to be destroyed.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvbOTrczxAA

link to online petition.

http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/s...te-monster-dam

For those of you on FB.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http...am&h=PAQEZRQ9x


peace

[Bill Ryan]

-------

Makes me weep.

From the introduction to Thom Hartmann's masterwork The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight:

[Amzer Zo]

From: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/24-0


Published on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 by YES! Magazine
Occupy the Dam: Brazil's Indigenous Uprising


In the Amazonian backcountry, tribes are challenging construction of the world's third-largest dam—by dismantling it. Here's what they can teach us about standing up to power.

by John Perkins



Indigenous tribesmen stand firm near the Belo Monte Dam. (Photos courtesy of International Rivers)Last month, hundreds of indigenous demonstrators began dismantling a dam in the heart of Brazil’s rainforest to protest the destruction it will bring to lands they have loved and honored for centuries. The Brazilian government is determined to promote construction of the massive, $14 billion Belo Monte Dam, which will be the world’s third largest when it is completed in 2019. It is being developed by Norte Energia, a consortium of ten of the world’s largest construction, engineering, and mining firms set up specifically for the project.

Hydroelectric energy is anything but “clean” when measured in terms of the excruciating pain it causes individuals, social institutions, and local ecology.

The Belo Monte Dam is the most controversial of dozens of dams planned in the Amazon region and threatens the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Amazonian people, plants, and animals. Situated on the Xingu River, the dam is set to flood roughly 150 square miles of already-stressed rainforest and deprive an estimated 20,000 people of their homes, their incomes, and—for those who succumb to malaria, bilharzia, and other diseases carried by insects and snails that are predicted to breed in the new reservoir—their lives. Moreover, the influx of immigrants will bring massive disruption to the socioeconomic balance of the region. People whose livelihoods have primarily depended on hunting and gathering or farming may suddenly find themselves forced to take jobs as manual laborers, servants, and prostitutes.

History has shown again and again that dams in general wreak havoc in areas where they are built, despite promises to the contrary by developers and governments.

Hydroelectric energy is anything but “clean” when measured in terms of the excruciating pain it causes individuals, social institutions, and local ecology. The costs—often hidden—include those associated with the privatization of water; the extinction of plants that might provide cures for cancer, HIV, and other diseases; the silting up of rivers and lakes; and the disruption of migratory patterns for many species of birds.

The indigenous cultures threatened by the Belo Monte Dam, including those of the Xikrin, Juruna, Arara, Parakanã, Kuruaya and Kayapó tribes, are tied to the land: generations have hunted and gathered and cultivated the same areas for centuries. They—as well as local flora and fauna—have suffered disproportionately from the effects of other hydroelectric dams, while rarely gaining any of the potential benefits. Now they are fighting back.

The indigenous people’s occupation of the dam garnered international attention, connecting their situation to other events across the globe.

Indigenous leaders from these groups have asked the Brazilian government to immediately withdraw the installation license for Belo Monte. They demand a halt to work until the government puts into place "effective programs and measures to address the impacts of the dam on local people." They point out that a promised monetary program to compensate for the negative impacts of the mega-dam has not yet been presented in local villages; also, that a system to ensure small boat navigation in the vicinity of the cofferdams, temporary enclosures built to facilitate the construction process, has not been implemented. Without such a system, many will be isolated from markets, health care facilities, and other services. The cofferdams have already rendered much of the region’s water undrinkable and unsuitable for bathing. Wells promised by the government and Norte Energia have not yet been drilled. The list of grievances goes on and on and is only the latest in a very old story of exploitation of nature and people in the name of “progress.” Far too often, this has meant benefiting only the wealthiest in society and business.

Yet here in the backcountry of Brazil, there is a difference: the makings of a new story. The indigenous people’s occupation of the dam garnered international attention, connecting their situation to other events across the globe—the Arab Spring, democratic revolutions in Latin America, the Occupy Movement, and austerity strikes in Spain and other European nations. Brazil’s indigenous protesters have essentially joined protesters on every continent who are demanding that rights be restored to the people.

Stories take time to evolve. This one—the story of people awakening on a global level to the need to oppose and replace exploitative dreams—is still in its beginning phase. And the first chapter has been powerful, elegant, and bold.

A few years ago I was invited, with a group, to Ladakh, a protectorate of India, to meet with the Dalai Lama. Among a great deal of sage advice he offered was the following:

“It is important to pray and meditate for peace, for a more compassionate and better world. But if that is all you do, it is a waste of time. You also must take actions to make that happen. Every single day.”

It is time for each and every one us to follow that advice.

Opposing the Belo Monte Dam project provides an opportunity for you and me to honor those words, and those leading resistance to it can help us understand the importance of looking around—in our neighborhoods as well as globally—to determine what else we can do to change the story.

Click here to view photo essay of the indigenous resistance to the Belo Monte Dam construction.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License


John Perkins is the author of New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hitman and, most recently, Hoodwinked: An Economic Hitman Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded—and What We Need to Do to Remake Them.

more John Perkins

[Feren]

My father often says that more indigenous persons, 'indians', have been killed since independence here in South America (early 19th century) than in the precedent 300 years of colonization.
It might be true or not, but he makes a point: We complain about our past of slavery and death, but today we are the enslavers and the killers.

[David Trd1]

Posted by Amzer Zo (here)

A few years ago I was invited, with a group, to Ladakh, a protectorate of India, to meet with the Dalai Lama. Among a great deal of sage advice he offered was the following:

“It is important to pray and meditate for peace, for a more compassionate and better world. But if that is all you do, it is a waste of time. You also must take actions to make that happen. Every single day.”

It is time for each and every one us to follow that advice.

just to highlight..

peace .

[WhiteFeather]

Sad Indeed......We are still not getting it are we?. The Planet cannot take anymore pillaging. Mother is suffering. And she is responding.
Great video to watch.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsQ4umZy99g

[Ol' Roy]

Another attack on indgenous people. When is it going to end? It's been going on for millinea. North America, Australia, and now South America and Africa. Start with the oil companies in the Amazon and Africa.The stripping of the Amazon Rainforests, now, hydroelectric dams that won't benefit the people, who live there, but others.

If Free Energy were implemented (yes we already have it, supressed), we would not have to destroy more of our beautiful planet. It's really sad indeed!

[RMorgan]

Hey folks,

You guys have know idea of the scope of this problem.

Belo Monte is just the first dam to be built in this region. There are 30 more to come.

Do you think the Brazilian government gives a s**t for all the native tribes which will be displaced and massacred?

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Energy generation is just an excuse in this case and the public is buying it.

Do you want to know the real reason for building all these gigantic dams?

The reason is mining. They´re building these dams to energetically supply a gigantic mining project which is about to happen on Amazon.

There´s a complete worldwide media blackout on this issue. Everyone who dares to publicly talk about this huge mining project is getting arrested or murdered.

Raf.

[Marsila]

Posted by RMorgan (here)


The reason is mining. They´re building these dams to energetically supply a gigantic mining project which is about to happen on Amazon.

.

Thanks i am no expert on my neighboring country, but i thought i heard of that area's name before, unsurprisingly on a financial and precious metal news pages.

This from last April, click here for link.

“We feel we’ve identified a couple of zones with resource potential [at Juruena] just based on some of the results from the Phase 1 drilling, but drilling up a resource there isn’t a priority for us. We think there are bigger prizes to be had. This potential for porphyry-type deposits on the property — that’s where you can easily add ounces. So that is going to be our priority for Phase 2: testing these porphyry targets rather than coming in and doing infill [work] to try and drill off a resource.”

and click here for this other one

The Ernesto/Pau-a-Pique gold project in Mato Grosso State is located within Yamana’s 450,000-hectare property on the prolific Guapore gold belt. The two deposits, which are 60 kilometres apart, will be mined by open pit (Ernesto) and underground (Ernesto and Pau-a-Pique) mining methods. Ore from both deposits will be processed in a common plant using gravity and carbon-in-leach treatment at a rate of one million tonnes per year. Production is expected to begin in late 2012


Annual Production (E)
100,000 oz. gold (120,000 oz. in first two years)
Gold mineral reserves
791,000 oz. proven & probable
Gold mineral resources
141,000 oz. measured & indicated

And from another mining website...click here

The Mato Grosso property consists of 122 generally contiguous mining claims with a total surface area of 324,244 hectares.

signing that petition, but i do hope and pray something happens, and that these people are stopped before the damage is irreversible. The amazon is a living being and these indigenous people know it more than anyone else, and it is quite frustrating that these things are still happening in South America after the history we had in the last century....

[RMorgan]

Hey Marsila,

They are not after the gold, they are after the Niobium, which is one of the most strategic mineral resources we have noways.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobium

Cheers,

Raf.

[Marsila]

Thanks for the info, was wondering what the 'bigger prize' was, I really don't know if they ever 'think' those who come up with these 'great' ideas.

but now that we got the real motives out of the way,another petition for anyone who wants to sign, am not sure about its timing, but it at least offers some 'moral support' to these people.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/amazon_under_threat/

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!

An extra picture

The chief of the indigenous Kayapo tribe in Brazil reacts with a gesture of dignity and helplessness to receiving the worst news of his life: The new president of Brazil, former Marxist guerrilla Dilma Rousseff, has given approval to build a huge hydroelectric plant (the third largest in the world). It is the death sentence for all the people near the river because the dam will flood 400,000 hectares of forest. More than 40,000 Indians will have to find another place to live. The natural habitat destruction, deforestation and the disappearance of many species is a fact

[pyrangello]

Just signed the petition and sent a donation . Sending this info to others I know around the world.

[nomadguy]

Posted by RMorgan (here)
Hey Marsila,

They are not after the gold, they are after the Niobium, which is one of the most strategic mineral resources we have noways.


Raf.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobium

hmmm>

"The Superconducting Radio Frequency (RF) cavities used in the free electron lasers TESLA and XFEL are made from pure niobium.[60]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niobium...cting.2C_other

note -
The sheer number of Dams being planned there is astonishing.

IMHO ~ There can be no larger crime to the world and ourselves than to devastate the last-free-forests.

and an open question to the forum:

What can we do?

[Amzer Zo]

Cameron's "Avatar" anyone?

[TargeT]

Posted by WhiteFeather (here)
Sad Indeed......We are still not getting it are we?. The Planet cannot take anymore pillaging. Mother is suffering.

The only constant is change, Resources are not finite, our understanding of what is there for use is finite...

the planet does not care what we (ants) do it, however we CAN make it less of a hospitable place for "us". (or more... it's our choice)

The dinosaurs are no longer here, Millions of species wen't "extinct" before we got here (assuming modern history is correct... something I do NOT assume) ... it is NOT our place to assume "guilt" for change, merely to be accepting of it and attempt to act from the highest order of intent possible. I feel this is a trap, a karma-tic guilt (I do not think "karma" is real, at least not as popularly viewed, I am not alone in this.....)

the usable surface of the earth is very small the rest is mostly covered with water; and land that rarely sees a human.

entire population of the world could fit into the state of Texas with about 1000+ square feet per person, leaving the entire rest of the world empty.

I think it is highly egotistical of humanity to think it has such a dramatic effect on a world it BARELY visits to its full extent.

[Marsila]

[QUOTE=TargeT;530052]

Posted by WhiteFeather (here)

the usable surface of the earth is very small the rest is mostly covered with water; and land that rarely sees a human.

But TargetT this is one of the biggest myths that we have been fed, so that when it really becomes this way, we think it was always this way. a lot of the most fertile and usuable lands on Earth, either no one touches, as not many people know about, or are used by to bury nuclear and other 'lethal' waste, that really did turn some wonderful useful lands into a desert. This mostly happened to African and Central Asian countries, but all over the world really.

Back to this thing in the Amazon an article written by Bianca Jagger here it is very looong but very detailed of her expeirence with the people of that area and what is going on so it is a good read....
here is a part of how Norte Energia the company building the dam is pretending it's doing these people are favor...it is the same story all around the world but with a different name for the big companies vs small people

Norte Energia and Belo Monte, PR

Norte Energia, the company responsible for the Belo Monte Dam complex is a consortium of 11 stakeholders, one of them Vale, the world's second largest mining giant. Norte Energia is a Frankenstein of a company.

When I first saw the following statement on Norte Energia's website, I thought it was a hoax. The site claims that:

the indigenous communities of the region surrounding the project had free access to the project and its impacts, through 30 meetings recorded in audio and video. The Belo Monte Power Plant will not flood any indigenous land and there will be no displacement of tribes. This is a legal commitment by the company.

This statement is false. It is a cruel irony and a flagrant attempt to deceive the people of Brazil.
I have seen evidence that contradicts the statements made by Norte Energia. I have spoken to many indigenous people who will be irrevocably affected by the drastic alteration in the flow of the river, the flooding of the land. The Belo Monte Dam complex will leave Arara and Jurana people without water, fish or a livelihood. Their territory falls in the 'dry stretch.' And the subsequent five dams which are expected to be built upstream of Belo Monte would flood huge areas of indigenous land.

The Norte Energia website goes on to say,

According to the Environmental Licensing determination, Norte Energia will relocate about 6,000 families (some 20, 000 people) who live, presently, in stilt houses and in subhuman conditions, in the region of Altamira, giving this people a new urbanized area with brick houses, sanitation and urban equipments. This relocation program started in July 2011 and is in the process of registration of families including socioeconomic aspects (family profile) and neighbor relationship.

The truth is quite the contrary. The 'subhuman conditions' will result from the construction of the Belo Monte Dam. Norte Energia's supposed commitment to 'sustainable production activities' and 'social inclusion' would be ridiculous, were it not so appalling.

Dr Erwin Kräutler, told me of a phrase they have in Brazil: 'só para inglês ver,' meaning 'for the English to see.' The phrase comes, appropriately enough, from the slave trading days of Brazil. The appearance of good practice which Norte Energia is putting on is a veneer, and a thin one at that. It is 'for the English to see.'

In the course of my campaigning, I have seen many corporations use deceptive PR strategies, like that of Norte Energia, to whitewash or greenwash their actions. The statement on the Norte Energia website reminded me of a billboard above the luggage carousel in the arrivals hall at Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. I was in Orissa to campaign on behalf of an Indian tribe, the Kondh, whose lives are being devastated by the British based mining group Vedanta. The opening of an aluminium refinery in Lanjigarh, in south-west Orissa, by the Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc, has brought nothing but misery, disease and impoverishment to the communities and Kondh tribes of the area.

The billboard read: "Mining happiness for the people of Orissa -- Vedanta."

I was outraged. The poster should have read instead, "Undermining happiness for the people of Orissa." I continue to support the Kondh in their campaign against Vedanta's proposal to mine bauxite in the heart of the Kondh's sacred Niyamgiri Mountain.

I dont' know what we can really do, but just spreading the word around, keeping this in the 'limelight', and making sure more and more people know about it could have an impact. Things do change at times, from when they think no one is looking, to when they know the whole world is looking at them, and not believing the whole 'cheap energy' thing anymore.
Dams also cause a lot of earthquakes after a few years in the places where they are built, so maybe nature will have a chance to end this itself, and hopefully before the 'project is complete'.

[Snoweagle]

These dams have little to do with energy or minerals. Sure, both will be beneficial to revenue collectors and investors but that happens to be a bonus to the construction of ANY dam.

It is entirely about CONTROL of FRESH WATER. The single most important molecule on the planet for life. That is why dams are being created, control water and you control genocide.

[RMorgan]

Posted by Snoweagle (here)
These dams have little to do with energy or minerals. Sure, both will be beneficial to revenue collectors and investors but that happens to be a bonus to the construction of ANY dam.

It is entirely about CONTROL of FRESH WATER. The single most important molecule on the planet for life. That is why dams are being created, control water and you control genocide.

No. I´m not speculating on this subject.

I´m Brazilian and I ´m involved in several projects against these dams.

They are indeed connected to mining. I know people who have proof.

Cheers,

Raf.

[astrid]

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY5xID2t2zQ

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFWngYRIbd4

so heartbreaking

signed and shared.

[astrid]

Belo Monte Announcement of a War - complete movie

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoRhavupkfw

"This is an independent documentary made during 3 expeditions at the Xingu River, Altamira, Brasília and São Paulo.
It presents very serious facts about Belo Monte dam, the biggest and most polemical construction going on in Brazil today."