Stop the Monster Dam: Support Urgent Action Fund for the Xingu and its People

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In addition to supporting the ongoing mobilizations of indigenous and traditional communities of the Xingu River Basin in the Brazilian Amazon against the Belo Monte "Monster" Dam, this project supports legal costs to bring a series of lawsuits against the dam to justice in Brazil. Brazilians and our allies around the world have launched the Belo Monte: Justice Now! campaign to appeal to Brazil's judiciary to urgently rule upon lawsuits that are currently stalled in its courts. If the rule of law is followed, these cases could paralyze construction of the Belo Monte Dam.

The Dilma government's blatant obstruction of justice sets a dangerous precedent for the Amazon and its people, and for this reason we are asking the global community to help support our human right to democracy and due process of law. Your donation will support our coalition of human rights defenders in its appeal that Brazilian judges urgently resolve the outstanding lawsuits against the Belo Monte Dam.

The Brazilian government's reckless plans to build the Belo Monte Dam would carve the world's 3rd largest dam into the heart of the Amazon, diverting nearly the entire flow of the Xingu River along 100 kilometers and devastate an extensive area of the Amazon rainforest, threatening the survival of indigenous and traditional peoples, and displacing over 40,000 people. These communities are ready to mobilize in resistance but need your support to make this happen.

Since the Brazilian government issued the license for the Belo Monte Dam on June 1, 2011, there has been growing local, national and international outcry. Regular protests have taken place in major Brazilian cities and internationally calling on Brazil to defend the Amazon and indigenous rights. Several occupation activities in the dam's key construction sites this year have temporarily paralyzed the project, however construction has continued in blatent disregard to the Brazilian Constitution, national laws, and international human rights conventions.

Amazon Watch is working with a coalition of Brazilian and international organizations to stop the dam, providing direct support to affected indigenous and traditional communities while serving as a bridge between media, legal, and grassroots representatives in Brazil and their supporters internationally.

Together we've gathered and delivered MILLIONS of global petition signatures; we've organized protests; we've filed lawsuits; we've reached out to celebrities, politicians and academics; we've received favorable media coverage; we've promoted clean energy alternatives and, we've even presented a petition to the Inter-American Commission of the Organization of American States and, in response, Brazil was ordered to stop construction, but the Dilma government ignored the order and moved ahead with its plans to build this dam.

With more than 80 percent of the Belo Monte dam to be funded by BNDES (the Brazilian National Development Bank), Belo Monte is a critical battle in the fight for the Amazon and for Latin America's future. Belo Monte is the gateway dam for over 60 proposed dams throughout the Amazon.

Indigenous and traditional communities are not giving up and neither are we. Your support is needed NOW to support the last stand in defense of the Xingu River and its people! Please donate to the Xingu Urgent Action Fund today!

  1. Update #7

    Posted by Paul Paz y Miño (Campaign Leader) on Jan 18

    Pressure to Stop Belo Monte continues to grow as the global movement expands. Communities are expected to meet with the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) this month and the Brazilian Supreme Court still holds the ability to STOP construction and uphold the law. As the rainy season begins at the dam site it has never been more critical that we combine our efforts and ensure this travesty of justice and potentially devastating project is STOPPED forever. Please help us meet our goal...

    Pressure to Stop Belo Monte continues to grow as the global movement expands. Communities are expected to meet with the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) this month and the Brazilian Supreme Court still holds the ability to STOP construction and uphold the law. As the rainy season begins at the dam site it has never been more critical that we combine our efforts and ensure this travesty of justice and potentially devastating project is STOPPED forever. Please help us meet our goal and share with your friends today. Thanks! For the people of the Xingu! For the Amazon! For our future.

  2. Update #6

    Posted by Paul Paz y Miño (Campaign Leader) on Nov 7, 2012

    Join the worldwide chorus calling for justice in Brazil by urging a definitive ruling on lawsuits against the Belo Monte Dam.

    Brazilians and our allies around the world have launched the Belo Monte: Justice Now! campaign to appeal to Brazil's judiciary. We're calling for Brazilian judges to urgently rule upon a slew of lawsuits against the dam that are currently stalled in its courts. If the rule of law is followed, these cases could paralyze construction of the Belo Monte Dam.

    The Dilma...

    Join the worldwide chorus calling for justice in Brazil by urging a definitive ruling on lawsuits against the Belo Monte Dam.

    Brazilians and our allies around the world have launched the Belo Monte: Justice Now! campaign to appeal to Brazil's judiciary. We're calling for Brazilian judges to urgently rule upon a slew of lawsuits against the dam that are currently stalled in its courts. If the rule of law is followed, these cases could paralyze construction of the Belo Monte Dam.

    The Dilma government's blatant obstruction of justice sets a dangerous precedent for the Amazon and its people, and for this reason we are asking the global community to help support our human right to democracy and due process of law. Sign the global petition http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11870 requesting that Brazilian judges urgently resolve the outstanding lawsuits against the Belo Monte Dam.

  3. Update #5

    Posted by Paul Paz y Miño (Campaign Leader) on Aug 27, 2012

    Urge Brazil's Chief Justice to Continue the Suspension of the Belo Monte Dam
    We recently celebrated the news that a high court in Brazil had ordered the immediate halt to construction of the Belo Monte Dam due to a lack of prior consultations with affected indigenous peoples. Now, however, the Brazilian government has presented a complaint to the Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court to overturn this historic ruling. The suspension of the Belo Monte Dam could be ruled on at any moment.

    S...

    Urge Brazil's Chief Justice to Continue the Suspension of the Belo Monte Dam
    We recently celebrated the news that a high court in Brazil had ordered the immediate halt to construction of the Belo Monte Dam due to a lack of prior consultations with affected indigenous peoples. Now, however, the Brazilian government has presented a complaint to the Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court to overturn this historic ruling. The suspension of the Belo Monte Dam could be ruled on at any moment.

    Send an email to Supreme Court Chief Justice Ayres Britto calling on him to respect the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Xingu and to continue the suspension of the Belo Monte Dam!

    http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/continue-the-suspension-of-the-belo-monte-dam

  4. Update #4

    Posted by Paul Paz y Miño (Campaign Leader) on Jul 13, 2012

    Join the Call to Suspend the Belo Monte Dam

    http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/suspend-belo-monte

    The people of the Xingu are fighting for their survival and need your solidarity today.

    Brazil's indigenous and environmental agencies are deciding whether to authorize the irrevocable diversion of the Xingu River, reducing it's flow by as much as 80%. Join thousands of others in sending a message to FUNAI and IBAMA today.

    We cannot allow the Xingu to be destroyed with the stroke of a pen!

  5. Update #3

    Posted by Paul Paz y Miño (Campaign Leader) on Jul 1, 2012

    Day 10 of the Indigenous Occupation of the Belo Monte Pimental Dam Site

    Statement by Mukuka Xikrin, Spokesperson for the Occupation, as given to Atossa Soltani.

    Today we are in day 10 of the occupation. We had the meeting on Thursday with Norte Energia but did not reach any agreement. Construction on the coffer dam and in the work camp is still paralyzed. The Xikrin, the Arara and the Juruna of the Big Bend are still occupying the site. Many more of our relatives are asking for rides to get...

    Day 10 of the Indigenous Occupation of the Belo Monte Pimental Dam Site

    Statement by Mukuka Xikrin, Spokesperson for the Occupation, as given to Atossa Soltani.

    Today we are in day 10 of the occupation. We had the meeting on Thursday with Norte Energia but did not reach any agreement. Construction on the coffer dam and in the work camp is still paralyzed. The Xikrin, the Arara and the Juruna of the Big Bend are still occupying the site. Many more of our relatives are asking for rides to get here. For this reason we are calling for support, for more resources to arrive as soon as possible to allow us to bring more of our people to join the occupation.

    Today there are more our relatives arriving, the Parakana people are on their way to the occupation in the next few hours.

    Read more: http://amazonwatch.org/news/2012/0630-day-10-of-the-indigenous-occupation-of-the-belo-monte-pimental-dam-site

  6. Update #2

    Posted by Paul Paz y Miño (Campaign Leader) on Jun 28, 2012

    Support Indigenous Occupation of the Belo Monte Dam Site Now Entering Day 7

    In the final days of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, several hundred members of the Xikrin, Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples affected by the Belo Monte Dam began an indigenous-led occupation of the construction site on Pimental Island in the Xingu River. The occupation – now in its 7th day – is gaining strength as more indigenous inhabitants come to join the blockade. Indigenous leaders have set up a peaceful encampment...

    Support Indigenous Occupation of the Belo Monte Dam Site Now Entering Day 7

    In the final days of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, several hundred members of the Xikrin, Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples affected by the Belo Monte Dam began an indigenous-led occupation of the construction site on Pimental Island in the Xingu River. The occupation – now in its 7th day – is gaining strength as more indigenous inhabitants come to join the blockade. Indigenous leaders have set up a peaceful encampment in the middle of the earthen coffer dam, confiscated keys to various trucks and earth moving equipment and stopped all construction works in the area. This action comes on the heels of a series of inspiring actions the past few weeks in the Xingu and in Rio by the people who face serious loss of their forests, their livelihoods and culture.

    Read more: http://amazonwatch.org/news/2012/0627-support-indigenous-occupation-of-the-belo-monte-dam-site

  7. Update #1

    Posted by Paul Paz y Miño (Campaign Leader) on Jun 15, 2012

    While the Brazilian Government prepares to host the Rio+20 United Nations Earth Summit, 3,000 kilometers north in the country's Amazon region indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolk, activists and local residents affected by the construction of the massive Belo Monte Dam project began a symbolic peaceful occupation of the dam site to "free the Xingu River."

    In the early morning hours, three hundred women and children arrived in the hamlet of Belo Monte on the Transamazon Highway, and marched...

    While the Brazilian Government prepares to host the Rio+20 United Nations Earth Summit, 3,000 kilometers north in the country's Amazon region indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolk, activists and local residents affected by the construction of the massive Belo Monte Dam project began a symbolic peaceful occupation of the dam site to "free the Xingu River."

    In the early morning hours, three hundred women and children arrived in the hamlet of Belo Monte on the Transamazon Highway, and marched onto a temporary earthen dam recently built to impede the flow of the Xingu River. Using pick axes and shovels, local people who are being displaced by the project removed a strip of earthen dam to restore the Xingu's natural flow.

    READ MORE: http://amazonwatch.org/news/2012/0615-amazonian-communities-occupy-the-belo-monte-dam-site-to-free-the-xingu-river

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