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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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