On Belo Monte, Live from Brasilia | Amazon Watch
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On Belo Monte, Live from Brasilia

Indigenous peoples gathered in Brasilia demand binding consultation process from government

June 6, 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

Protesting the Belo Monte Dam

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A new document calls for the Brazilian government’s official statement declaring whether or not the indigenous group’s decision concerning the consultation process, proposed in their meeting with Brazilian ministers, will be respected.

The indigenous group who occupied the Belo Monte dam’s construction site in Pará and participated in the meeting with government ministers last Tuesday June 4th to reiterate their demand for the suspension of dam construction and environmental feasibility studies for future dams, while guaranteeing their constitutional right to prior consultation as enshrined in Brazil’s Constitution, filed an official response to the government yesterday.

Protesting the Belo Monte Dam

Having decided to remain in Brasilia due to their dissatisfaction with the position of Minister Gilberto Carvalho, President Rousseff’s Chief of Staff, who said he would not negotiate the construction of Belo Monte while offering only to negotiate the terms of a consultation with indigenous peoples threatened by dams planned for the Tapajós River, the following document was written by an assembly of the 141 indigenous representatives who participated in the meeting:

Indigenous Response to Minister Gilberto Carvalho and the Brazilian Government

Mr. Minister, we held a meeting on June 4, 2013 in the auditorium of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic in your presence together with 141 indigenous representatives from the Mundurukú, Xikrin, Arara and Xipaya ethnic groups. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Munduruku people’s political organization including: the Central Chief of the Mundurukú people, the advisor to the Central Chief, the President and Vice-President of the Association Pussuru, the Chief of the warriors, shamans, leaders, women and children, as well as other warriors and chiefs. Representatives of the Ministries of Health and Education, the Brazilian Anthropological Association (ABA), the National Confederation of Brazilian Bishops, the President of [Brazil’s indigenous agency] FUNAI, the Vice President of the 6th chamber of the Federal Public Ministry, Pará State Representative Father Tom, and advocates of indigenous peoples were also present at the meeting.

In response to your proposal to hold a meeting in the Mundurukú village of Sai Cinza within 20 days to discuss the government’s proposal on prior consultation surrounding the São Luiz do Tapajós hydroelectric dam, we hereby communicate our collective decision.

Our understanding is that we are masters of our destiny and we want what is written in the Constitution of 1988 to be respected, guaranteeing indigenous social organization, customs, languages, beliefs and traditions, the right as the country’s original peoples over our lands and the right not to be removed from our territories, as well as adherence to other laws that protect us.

Therefore we request an official statement from the Brazilian government to declare whether or not our final decision will be respected, in a binding and autonomous manner, regarding the proposed consultation process.

Protesting the Belo Monte Dam

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