"We Will Fight to the End"
Amazon tribe would rather die than see their land destroyed by a new dam
May 26, 2015Al Jazeera America
Environmental activists hope that São Luiz do Tapajós will not follow the same course as the Belo Monte, the Xingu River dam that is now nearly complete. Some tribal leaders opposed to that dam were bought off by the government, according to Maíra Irigaray, the Brazil coordinator of the group Amazon Watch. She fears similar tactics will be used here. "Leaders were paid off with boats, cars, cash and bodyguards," she said. "If the leaders took the money, the government won. If the leaders didn’t take the money, [contractors and others involved in dam construction] would spread lies and still manage to break their trust with the community."