Resistência e expropriação de famílias na Volta Grande do Xingu: o caso de duas áreas atingidas pela barragem de Belo Monte, Pará, Brasil

Abstract

This study made it possible to detail the mobilization against the construction of Belo Monte Hydroelectric Dam, from two distinct locations in Volta Grande do Xingu. Twenty six interviews have been made from May to July, 2012. The resistance against the construction of Belo Monte Dam spans over two decades, and it has gone through phases where there were position changes of the actors involved regarding the project, including the civil organizations. Regarding the peasants, these changes have dramatically influenced the way the conflict began, especially because their perception of the project depends upon the experience lived in the cited areas. In the municipality of São Raimundo Nonato and on the rural road connecting Ramal dos Penas, the mobilization turned possible due to the fear of changes, such as, losing their land and their production, the changes in their singular social relations grown in the area, the control in food production; however, such resistance emerged especially in those forced to leave the area, and the confrontations have been undermined fundamentally by the rapid social and environmental transformations after the beginning of the construction. In the areas named Ressaca, Garimpo do Galo and Ilha da Fazenda, one may notice that apart from the issues concerning the dam construction, there is the pressure as a result of the implementation of the mining project named Mineração Volta Grande. These expropriation fronts seem to increase even more the conflicts due to the changes in the construction area and the imminent displacement that may occur because of the mining project. Therefore, this study provides elements to the debate over other large investment projects that have undergone project or construction in the Amazon, followed by the peacemaking debate, the irreducibility in the construction, and consequently the natural displacement of residents for the progress and the common good, that overshadows lives and broaden social injustices.