13 January 2011 | News | Resisting neoliberalism
No One’s Water
People displaced due to Tucurui dam in Brazil have been left aside, says the MAB
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“This means no development to us”, said an inhabitant of Tucuruí, in Para State, after more than 25 years of the building of the Tucurui dam, according to a report published by the Movement of Dam-Affected People (MAB).
Just as other mega-dams in the Southern Cone of Latin America, Tucuruí dam is closely linked to military dictatorships and their energy policies.
The groups opposing this model, such as the MAB, consider that these hydroelectric initiatives were born as an answer to the oil crisis in the 70s and that were more linked to the pressure exerted by capital than by the energy needs of the population.
In the case of Tucurui, the most favored were the aluminum companies, especially from Japan. In addition to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, the works in this region were financed by Japanese banks.
According to official data by Electronorte the floods caused by the dam displaced 32 thousand families. The MAB denounced that many of the affected families have not had access to the compensation promised by the Brazilian government and that many people who live near the dam don’t have electricity.
“The least favored people is the one located where the dam is. This is unacceptable”, said Cuban doctor Aleida Guevara, in a video published by the MAB.
