29.04.2009
Brazilian Social Movement Condemns "Dictatorship on the Madeira River"
STATEMENT OF CONDEMNATION: Dictatorship on the banks of the Madeira River

The Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) publically denounces that riverine peoples affected by the hydroelectric plants on the Madeira River in the state of Rondônia are being threatened, persecuted, and unjustly fined by Brazil’s government regulatory agencies, the environmental police, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), and by the State Secretariat of Environmental Development (SEDAM). Affected families state that following their last mobilization in Porto Velho, in March, these agencies have systematically monitored the riverine communities, especially the most organized communities such as Joana D’arc III, which is located between the Santo Antônio and Jirau dams.

MAB denounces that the practices employed by the companies responsible for constructing these hydroelectric plants, and their attempts to appropriate the river, have been among the most aggressive ever seen. The persecution of the population affected by these dams is yet another tactic being employed by the construction companies in order to threaten, intimidate, and displace the population living on the banks of the Madeira River. We condemn that fines are being imposed as a means to counter people's protests against environmental crimes such as the burning of the affected population’s houses and the killing of 11 tons of fish last December due to unregulated dam construction.

One community leader was a fined R$ 31,000 (US$ 14,330) and was barred from entering his property, making it impossible for him to work his land under the threat of having his fine tripled. Fines can reach up to R$ 60,000. The hydroelectric dams will affect at least 5,000 families yet all of the meetings organized by the MESA consortium (administered by the companies Furnas and Odebrecht working on the Santo Antônio dam) are accompanied by heavy police presence, which has the effect of intimidating people who question these projects. As occurred with those who were affected by the Samuel dam in Rondônia, enormous pressure has been placed on families to abandon their lands, in violation of their rights. Affected people ask: “Where will we go if we receive no compensation?"

This persecution has even reached activists from Bolivian indigenous and social movements who were arrested and deported by the federal police during a demonstration in Porto Velho in March. Bolivian organizations were present to question the environmental impact studies for the dams, which hide the social and environmental consequences for the entire Madeira River basin, in an affront to the sovereignty of the peoples of Bolivia and Peru.

Faced with the dictatorship established on the banks of the Madeira River:

• We affirm that the Madeira River Complex will not benefit the people of our country, as it intends to serve large multinational companies. The Brazilian government is itself at the service of these companies making the priorities of private enterprise into "national" priorities;

• We condemn attempts to destroy the Amazon by enacting projects under the banner of the Accelerated Growth Program (PAC) and the Initiative for Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), the purpose of which is to provide energy and infrastructure to benefit only electro-intensive industries and agribusiness;

• We reject any and all forms of persecution and intimidation of affected communities by repressive authorities and those responsible for environmental surveillance who, rather than protecting these communities, punish them with extremely high fines;

• We announce that all riverine communities will be gathering in assemblies in the coming days to strengthen their organization and their resistance to these projects of death;

• We call on all those working in defense of human rights as well as social and environmental organizations to intervene the face of this dictatorship and in support of those who are affected by the hydroelectric plants of San Antônio and Jirau;

• We reaffirm our struggle against the sale of the Madeira River and in defense of the Amazon and affected communities.

Water and energy are not merchandise!
Water and energy are for sovereignty!

THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY DAMS