Action Alert For the , 
     
     Kaiapo People of Brazil 
     
    
   
   
    
     Background 
     
    
   
   
    
     All over the World Indigenous peoples face 
     
     cultural extinction as "civilization" encroaches on 
     
     their lands Invariably these people are displaced 
     
     and disposesed because we covet their lands for 
     
     luxuries The rights of these people are abused as 
     
     we pursue even greater economic wealth. 
     
    

    
     Historically the Amazon Basin had 7 million 
     
     people in Over 230 tribes. Today there are only 
     
     200,000 people. and over a 1m tribes are already 
     
     extinct The culture. rights. and lives of these 
     
     people continue to be threatened. 
     
    

    
     In the Amazon the mineral rights to 34% of 
     
     Indigenous lands have already been sold. without the 
     
     knowledge or consent of the owners. A typical land 
     
     dispute in March of 1988 left 13 thuna Indians 
     
     killed and 7.3 wounded. including women and children. 
     
     Our policy tavvards Indigenous peoples has been 
     
     thinly veiled a "progress" and "development", but 
     
     it is still genocide. 
     
    
   
   
    
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     i 
     
     . r i 
     
    
   
   
    
     Hydroelectric Projects and Development 
     
    
   
   
    
     In an effort to raise the hard currency 
     
     necesary to pay for their huge debts many 
     
     Developing Nations are industrializing as quickly as 
     
     posible. To provide the energy for this 
     
     industrialization they are building massive 
     
     hydroelectric projects Bradl is planning 136 new 
     
     dams under the Piano 2010 Power Sector Plan alone. 
     
     Most of these projects are so poorly conceived that 
     
     they are environmental disasters, completely 
     
     degrading the forests. fields and fisheries of the 
     
     watershed. The poor who were suppcsed to benefit 
     
     from this "development" suffer the most. The 
     
     Altamira Complex is a typical example of a disaster 
     
     in the making. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Altamira Complaint 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Complex involves 5 dams on the Xingu River 
     
     and its tributaries. This would flood 18.(XXJ sq km 
     
     of rainforestnan area half the size of Nova Scotia. 
     
     This project will affect the lands of 12 tribes and 
     
     displace 75.000 people. This region also has an 
     
     unusually high concentration of rare and endangered 
     
     species 
     
    
   
   
    
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     r l 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     The World Bank 
     
    
   
   
    
     Presure from many organizations concerned 
     
     with the environment. human rights. development. and 
     
     social justice has resulted in changes at the World 
     
     Bank. In an effort to avoid criticism and 
     
     responsibility the World Bank no longer funds 
     
     specific projects Funding is provided for whole 
     
     economic sectors. and it is left to the borrower to 
     
     decide which projects to fund. 
     
    

    
     Naturally the World Bank knows precisely what 
     
     the borrower intends to do with the money. and often 
     
     actively participates in the planning. The World 
     
     Bank knows that Brazilian economic planning Ls 
     
     geared towards development of hydro-power in the 
     
     Amazon 33in, and that funds from the Plano Z110 
     
     loan will be used to help finance it. Despite this 
     
     the Bank still claims that "the World Bank hm not 
     
     financed and does not intend to finance hydro-powe 
     
     projects in the Amazon." : 
     
    

    
     The World Bank requires that the borrower 
     
     country prepare an Environmental Master Plan. and 
     
     one has been prepared for the Altamira complex 
     
     Even the World Bank considers the Environmental 
     
     Master Plan to be inadequate. The Bank is critical 
     
     of the Master Plan because: 
     
    

    
     1) the resettlement and regional planning 
     
     guidelines are deficient. 
     
    

    
     2) the guidelines an Indigenous peoples are 
     
     neither specfic nor complete. 
     
    

    
     3) guidelines on pollution and threatened 
     
     wildlife are not ready. 
     
    

    
     4) there has not been adequate local 
     
     representation. 
     
    

    
     Despite these reservations the World Bank 
     
     intends to pursue the Plano 2010 Power Sector Loan.