A Federal judge in Brazil has suspended work on the controversial Belo Monte dam project, citing concerns that it would impact local fish stocks and harm indigenous peoples who rely on fishing.
In his ruling, Judge Carlos Castro Martins explicitly forbade Norte Energia, the consortium behind the dam, from “building a port, using explosives, installing dikes, building canals and any other infrastructure work that would interfere with the natural flow of the Xingu river, thereby affecting local fish stocks” .
Judge Martins also warned Norte Energia that it will face a daily fine of over US$100,000 if it fails to comply with the ruling.
However, according to the BBC, any work on the dam that wouldn’t effect local fishing can still continue, including the construction of “accommodation blocks for the project’s many workers”.
The consortium is also expected to appeal the ruling, even though it protects thousands of Indigenous Peoples and others in the Amazon region who rely on the Xingu river for subsistence.
The Belo Monte dam would divert about 80% the Xingu river, flooding about 500 square kilometers of the Amazon rainforest and displacing more than 20,000 people.
In June of this year, Brazil’s environmental agency, IMBAMA, granted a license for the dam’s construction by dismissing these and many other impacts and risks stemming from the project.
Four months earlier, another federal judge said no to the construction, until the government met 29 environmental and social conditions. The government still has not met those conditions.
Stop the Belo Monte Monster Dam! Send a message to Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, urging her to defend the Amazon and its people by stopping the Belo Monte Dam!
John Ahniwanika Schertow is an indigenous rights activist of Mohawk (Kanienkehaka) and mixed-European descent. For the past 8 years, he has served as the e... 
The Arará were known as great warriors and hunters and were largely nomadic; they depended on the ability of hunters to make ties... 
It would be very helpful to include contact information for the Brazilian President.
Please suspend the Belo Monte dam as it not only displaces so many people (20,000) in which the government doesn’t have a plan to assist the displaced indigenous people, but it also is damaging the rainforest that will have an impact on the world.
There needs to be an investigation of who is really benefiting from the dam. Corporations have only the interest of making money and not the interest of nature and the impact to the earth in years to come. Too many places in Central and South America are selling thier precious land for profit. I am pleading that this action be stopped, too much is depended on your decision.
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