In this thesis, I analyze the mobilization, participation and resistance of the indigenous peoples
of the Middle Xingu in the course of the implantation process of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric
Plant (HPP), located on the Xingu River, in the municipalities of Altamira, Vitória do Xingu
and Brasil Novo, in the state of Pará. I discuss the political action and the resistance of the
indigenous peoples to the actions for the implantation of the plant, with the purpose of
understanding: how do indigenous peoples act and react in the face of damages and losses to
their territories and ways of life, caused by the implantation of Belo Monte HPP? How do they
act to deal with violations and violence? What rights are enunciated and claimed in your
political struggle? For the development of the thesis, I used qualitative research methods, such
as participant observation and interviews, through fieldwork in Altamira/PA, Brasília/DF and
in indigenous lands, between July 2015 and February 2017. In the first chapter, I address the
historical trajectories of the indigenous peoples of the Middle Xingu, in an attempt to
understand the specificities of the different social and historical situations experienced by them.
In the second chapter, I examine the political and legal context in which the hydroelectric
project on the Xingu River, which gave rise to the Belo Monte HPP, was created, and explore
the project's chronology and history. In the third chapter, I discuss the implementation of the
Belo Monte HPP, focusing on the environmental licensing of the project and the (im) possibility
of participation of indigenous peoples, having as main sources the documents of the process of
the indigenous component of environmental licensing, which is being processed at Funai, and
that build a state narrative about the implantation of the hydroelectric plant. Finally, in the last
chapter, using the narratives of Juruna/Yudjá and Arara people from Volta Grande do Xingu as
main sources, I analyze the mobilization and strategies of struggle and resistance of indigenous
peoples in the course of the environmental licensing process of the project, whether to do
recognize the losses suffered, to “negotiate” with the Brazilian State and Norte Energia the
mitigation and compensation measures for impacts, to pressure for the implementation of other
measures established as conditions for environmental licenses or to demand actions that
guarantee the improvement of their conditions of life, even if not provided for in environmental
licenses.
|
