Introduction

Table of Contents   Introduction What the Electricity Is For Impacts on Environment and People Energy Inefficiency and Future Upstream Dams Sustainable Alternatives Project Finance and Cost Grave Omissions in the Environmental Impact Assessment Lack of Public Consultation Legal Challenges References Resources

What will be left of the Xingu river for the people of Xingu?

– Ademir Alfeu Federicci,
opponent of the Belo Monte Dam murdered in 2001

The Brazilian government is moving ahead "at any cost" with plans to build the third-largest dam in the world and one of the Amazon's most controversial development projects – the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River in the state of Pará. The Belo Monte dam complex dates back to Brazil's military dictatorship and the government has attempted to build it through various series of national investment programs including Brasil em Ação and the Program to Accelerate Growth. The original plans have been green-washed through multiple public relations programs over the course of two decades in the face of massive international and national protest.

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