Belo Monte Dam also causes environmental and social impacts across the whole of Altamira municipality. Despite controversy and much tension, Belo Monte was completed and has been in operation since 2016. Residents of the region complain about the consequences of the dam’s construction. Fishermen in particular have felt the impacts, but there is no compensation offered or expected for those living below the dam. Another problem attributed to the Belo Monte project is the growth in violence in the area. The latest data puts Altamira as the city with the fifth highest number of homicides in Brazil, and a new penitentiary was built six years after the arrival of the dam. Norte Energia, the company responsible for the plant, invested R$ 100 million in security following an agreement with the State of Pará.
Atrocities committed by mining companies in Mariana
On 5 November 2015 the Fundão dam collapsed, giving rise to the biggest environmental crime in the history of Brazil and the world. After more than two years of impunity for the rupture of the mineral tailings dam in Mariana (MG), lawsuits against the miners have now been suspended, and initiatives to compensate the people and families affected remain as empty promises. In total, 19 were killed, one woman had a miscarriage as a direct consequence of the mud slide, and 55 million cubic metres of mineral waste spread along the Gualaxo do Norte, Carmo and Doce rivers to the mouth of the Rio Doce in Regência, in Espirito Santo state. The complexity of the impacts on the lives of those affected remains incalculable. The contamination of water, health problems both physical and mental, the destruction of homes and loss of labour and income, and the dispersion of the community are just some of the many problems encountered. Some of these traumas were caused not only by the BHP Billiton, Samarco and Vale mining companies, but have also been aggravated by the denial of victims’ rights under the judicial system. In Cachoeira Escura, Belo Oriente district, Governador Valadares, Colatina, Linhares and other cities that rely upon the water of the Rio Doce, there are still many doubts about the safety of its use. Many health problems have been recorded, including stomach complaints and skin reactions caused by contaminated water. According to several university studies, the fish eaten by the population of these cities is potentially contaminated by heavy metals.
During FAMA, clear messages were sent to those corporations violently appropriating water and common goods in various regions of Brazil. On the morning of 20 March, World Water Day, 600 women of the Landless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – MST) occupied the Nestlé headquarters in São Lourenço, denouncing the company for its attempts to control the Guarani aquifer.