Belo Monte Dam Conflict

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In Brazil, the construction of the Belo Monte Dam is in conflict with the indigenous tribes that have been protesting against the project for years. The government replies with, “the dam is crucial to meeting growing energy needs” (BBC News, 2011), and on their part, this is true. This 11,000-megawatt hydroelectric “dam would be the third biggest in the world” (Velasco 2011). In order to avoid an inevitable energy crisis, the means of capturing energy must move forward while thinking about what we must do before it is done; the Belo Monte Dam will put the environment in harm’s way as argued by the people in this region, so we should sought after possible benefits for the loser in the final decision making. This paper plans to educate readers about the conflict between the government of Brazil and the tribes that reside in the Amazon. The local tribes use the Xingu River to make a living through fishing. They respect the natural phenomena which will be harmfully affected by the creation of this dam. A powerful liberal position could argue that Brazil’s indigenous people have a right to defend the environment through protest and can claim that it will also strain their physical integrity. Conversely, every aspect of production and consumption involves the use of energy. Energy is the most important component for economic activity and it has produced more research and debate than any other natural resource. These important factors leave this debate unsettled: the environmentalist groups in and outside of Brazil, the natural rights many feel the native tribes deserve, and also that energy is an ever increasing resource we as humans desire within our everyday lives.

Most of the world adopts an anthropocentric view of the world when it...

... middle of paper ...

...ghts of the environment and of the people who live in the Xingu River Basin region; the reason it still lies in dispute is that it is still a cleaner source of energy than the majority of other examples.

Works Cited

Barrionuevo, Alexei. “Amazon Dam Project Pits Economic Benefit Against Protection of Indigenous Lands.” The New York Times 16 April. 2010. Web. 16 April. 2010.

“Brazil judge halts work on Belo Monte Amazon dam.” BBC News Latin America and Caribbean 28 Sept. 2011. Web. 28 Sept. 2011.

Garner, Robert, Peter Ferdinand, and Stephanie Lawson. Introduction to Politics. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2009. Print.

Kennedy, Peter W. “Growth, Trade, and the Global Environment”. http://web.uvic.ca/~ pkennedy/Courses/111/text.pdf, 2011.Web.

Velasco, Hector. “Activists hail order to halt huge Brazilian dam.” AFP 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 29 Sept. 2011.

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