Thousands of members from the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) took to the streets on Tuesday and occupied public offices and the worksite where the plant would be built.

Meanwhile, the government was granting Norte Energia a license to build the world´s third largest hydroelectric dam through a public bid. Norte Energia is a consortium made up by subsidiary Eletrobras and eight private companies. According to El Pais newspaper, Spanish electric company Iberdrola, questioned by their activities in Latin America, also participated in the public bid.

The dam would begin its operations in 2015 and would be located at the heart of the Amazon forest. If this dam is built, only Chinese dam Three Gorges and binational dam Itaipu in the border between Brazil and Paraguay would be larger.

It is estimated that 500 square kilometers of land would be flooded by the dam. These lands are occupied by indigenous communities and between 20 and 50 thousand people would have to leave their homes.

Yesterday, in Belem, capital city of Para, approximately 500 peasants protested outside Electronorte headquarters. Electronorte is the state company in charge of the works. There were also other protests carried out in Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Florianopolis, Fortaleza and Porto Velho, according to MAB´s website.

"It´s not just Para fighting Belo Monte. People have understood that Belo Monte represents a violation to our national sovereignty. It involves the exploitation of our natural resources by transnational corporations. We will not allow this”, warned Rogerio Hohn, from the national coordination of the MAB.

In addition to the resistance of grassroots organizations that have been questioning this model for several years, different personalities, such as British singer Sting, have tried, without any success, to persuade President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In fact, James Cameron, director of Avatar, has recently visited the place where Belo Monte would be built.

Photo: http://www.mabnacional.org.br