BRASIL: Serra Speaks Out About Chavez, Petrobras and Belo Monte Dam.

REUTERS/      Jose Serra, the main opposition candidate in October's presidential election criticized proposed Petrobras reform plans and wants new energy alternatives explored. Serra said Petrobras and energy sector regulator, ANP, were already capable of managing development of deep sea oil reserves. He also believes a new dam on the Amazon's Xingu River is important for electricity supply but wants further debate. Serra praised Hugo Chavez's support of his opponent Rousseff : “I want to say something, I think it’s great, very good for me that Chávez should support Rousseff.” Serra told MercoPress: that “as we all know, this gentleman likes to persecute and shut down all media that does not support him. Let us not forget also that Mr. Chavez could have won many elections but his debut in politics was as leader of a bloody military coup,” underlined Serra. “Only later was he elected”.

BRASIL: Avatar's Famous Director Supports Indians Fighting Proposed Dam.

NYTIMES/    Director James Cameron, rich and famous after the worldwide success of his movie "Avatar," is now speaking out loudly against the environmental destruction threatening the world's indigenous peoples. After a recent trip to the Amazon, he has focused his anger on the proposed Belo Monte dam. Belo Monte would be the world's third largest dam and flood hundreds of square miles in the Amazon while drying-up 60-miles of the Xingu River and devastating the indigenous communities that live along it.

BRASIL: Bids Sought For Amazon's Belo Monte Dam.

LAHT/      Brasil has opened-up bidding to build and operate the Belo Monte dam in its Amazon jungle. Belo Monte will be the world’s third-largest hydroelectric dam. It is strongly opposed by environmentalists and the indigenous people. The $10.6 billion Belo Monte complex will be built on the Xingu River, an Amazon tributary in the northern state of Para.

BRASIL: Controversial Belo Monte Dam Project Approved.

BBC/    Brasil has granted an environmental licence for the construction of the controversial Belo Monte hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest.
The dam project on the Xingu river, a tributary of the Para River, was abandoned in the 1990s after national and worldwide protests. The lives of up to 40,000 indigenous people could be affected by flooding the 500 sq km of land.

BRASIL: Amazon Indians Threaten "River Of Blood" Over Dam.

LAHT/
Indians living on the banks of the Xingu River in Amazonia threatened Brasil with a “river of blood” if the construction of the large Belo Monte dam is not stopped. "The Xingu River can transform itself into a river of blood. Let Brasil and the world know what can occur in the future if the Brasilian leaders do not respect our rights,” wrote the Indians in a letter.
The Indians added that they were not going to talk with government representatives because they have already spoken “for too long” over the last 20 years.