Xingu takes advantage of Rio+20 to protest the dam

06/07/2012 - 10h26

Activists and residents of the region affected by the Belo Monte hydroelectric project on the Xingu River (PA), are preparing a parallel protest during Rio+20.

Xingu+23-an allusion to the 23 years since the first Meeting of Indigenous People of Xingu-will be between June 13 and 17 in a community near Vitória do Xingu (945 km from Belém).

The first indigenous meeting led to the suspension of international financing for the hydroelectric plant.

The Xingu Alive Movement (Movimento Xingu Vivo), the public face of the organization, hopes to attract 400 people.

The rural community of Santo Antônio, which is slated to be displaced, is going to be the center of the protest.

The company Norte Energia, responsible for the construction of the Belo Monte project, says that 97 percent of the owners of the 252 homes participated in the negotiation of the displacement.

Xingu Alive maintains that the families were "expelled" with very little compensation, but the company notes that "all of the families had the option to be relocated, and the majority quickly opted for financial compensation."

Translated by ANNA EDGERTON