Imagine if Hurricane Katrina was not a hurricane at all, but an event sponsored by the federal government, in collaboration with several multinational corporations. If your imagination fails you, then perhaps you’ll get a clearer picture by learning about the people of the Xingu River.
The Xingu, a tributary of the Amazon, is home to over 10,000 indigenous people who rely on the river for survival. The Brazilian government, however, keen to develop the region, is proposing what would be the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam, threatening to destroy the biodiversity of the Xingu River basin and deprive these people of their rights to a sustainable future.
Cultures of Resistance was in Altamira in 2008 for the Xingu Alive Encounter – one of the largest-ever gatherings of indigenous Brazilians – to witness the spectacular determination of the Amazon people to protect their way of life.
Today, plans to build the dam continue. Thankfully, so do the protests.
