Ludma and India, MAB militants of Rondônia, are honored in Rio de Janeiro

Due to their fight for defending families affected by the Santo Antônio and Jirau Hydroelectric Dams, Ludma and India are now under death threats.

It is no longer news that the model of energy production through the construction of large hydroelectric dams will leave behind a whole range of destruction for the local population. In recent years, one emblematic case that became known nationally was the fight of the communities located by the Madeira River in the state of Rondônia against the violence of the companies, which took away their territory for the construction of two hydroelectric dams: Santo Antônio and Jirau.

It is in this scenario that Lurdilane Gomes da Silva, better known as Ludma, and Iza Cristina Bello, nicknamed India, both militants of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), stood out for their resistance. This year, due to their fearless confrontation against economic and political interests in order to win reparations of rights, both militants received recognition awards from Global Justice (Justiça Global) on December 12. Since 2014, Global Justice holds an annual Tribute Ceremony in honor of Maria do Espírito Santo Silva to award outstanding human rights defenders in Brazil. Also honored this year, were Djanira Krenak, Júlia Procópio, Sandra Quintela and Wilma Melo.

Between 2008 and 2012, the construction site of these two hydroelectric dams became known for their disrespectful treatment to workers, which caused more than 2,000 charges to be processed by the Ministry of Labor for violating labor laws. In addition, the National Rapporteur for the Human Right to the Environment found that there was a significant increase in the rates of violence in this same period, including rape, which increased by 208%.

With the completion of the dam constructions, the local infrastructure that should have been offered by the companies (owners of the hydroelectric dams) to the local communities proved to be lacking. Schools and health clinics do not meet the demand of the population. Communities that had to be relocated protest of the deterioration in quality of life, such as having homes of poor quality and being relocated far from their land and the river where they carried out activities in agriculture and fishing. They assert that their income today is much lower than what they received before.

The stories of Ludma and India intersect with this context. Ludma (41) and her family belonged to a community of Mutum Paraná, located by the river in the district of Porto Velho. In 2011, the community was removed so that the area could be submerged under water by the reservoir formed by the Jirau Hydroelectric Dam (HD). Ludma and her family relocated to the village of Nova (New) Mutum Paraná.

This village, with a capacity to receive up to six thousand inhabitants, was built for the resettlement of families. Until the completion of the dam constructions, this village housed its workers. In 2012, the village was supposed to receive families impacted by the dams. Instead, those houses remained unoccupied and some were even put on the market to be sold by a company that was subcontracted by the consortium responsible for the Jirau HD.

Faced with their precarious situation, a group of families impacted by the dams got organized and occupied the empty houses in Nova Mutum Paraná in 2014. Within this group was India, aged 31. She lived in Jaci Paraná, near the resettlement built for communities affected by the reservoir formed by the Santo Antônio HD. This area already suffered from waterlogging and water contamination, which made it challenging to use the soil for human consumption, when it was devastated by the severe flooding of the Madeira River in 2014.

In this context of injustice and adversity, the two militants formed the Defense Commission of the Occupation. In partnership with the Public Ministry of the State of Rondônia, local politicians and MAB, the Commission fought against the controlling consortia of the hydroelectric dams in defense of the rights of the affected families. For this defense, both women are now under threat and being persecuted.

The owner of the Jirau HD is the Sustainable Energy of Brazil consortium (Energia Sustentável do Brasil – ESBR), which is made up mostly of GDF SUEZ (France), Mitsui (Japan), Eletrosul (Brazil) and São Francisco Hydroelectric Company (Brazil). The constructions were managed by of the following companies: Camargo Correa, Enesa Engenharia and J. Maclucelli.

The Santo Antônio HD belongs to the Santo Antônio Energia consortium, formed by Furnas Centrais Elétricas, Caixa FIP Amazônia Energia, Odebrecht Energia do Brasil, SAAG Investimentos and Cemig. The construction was under the management of Odebrecht, Andrade Gutierrez and more than 50 subcontractors.

“We had no idea what was going to happen. We became targeted and the threats began. Cars and motorbikes were passing by our houses to curse us, to throw stones at us. So we knew we were on the death threat list. My mother got sick. She could not sleep anymore. I don’t live anymore. This is suffocating me,” explains Ludma, who has been trying along with India, to join the National the Protection Program of Human Rights Defenders (PPDDH) without success.

The threats were followed by tragic news: the disappearance of Nilce de Souza Magalhães, better known as Nicinha, and fighting peer to Ludma and India, forming the MAB leadership. Her body was found six months later, in June of this year, with her hands and feet tied to a rock. That crime remains unpunished.

“I got a call saying that the list had been created. Immediately, the people on the street were saying that the first person to die would be Nicinha because she was the most talented. The second would be me, and then Ludma. We asked for police protection, but we do not have it. In those days, a young man was shot in front of my house and the cops showed up six hours later. They are not on the side of the people,” adds India.

The situation of Ludma and India falls within a scenario of human rights violations that is overrunning the state of Rondônia. In 2016, Rondônia had the highest number of murders of human rights defenders. According to a survey by the Brazilian Committee of Human Rights Defenders, at least 17 defenders were killed in the state from January to October 2016. The number represents 30% of the country’s deaths. The committee sent a request for urgent action to the United Nations to intervene with Brazil against the attacks.

“I will not say that I am not afraid, we are all afraid of death. But if it’s my time, it’s my time. I have no desire to fix that. I do have more desire to fight. After Nicinha’s death I created a force within me that I did not even know existed. I’m in the fight. We’re in the fight and we will continue. It will be worth it. I mean this for everyone: our rights are promptly being violated. This reality has to change,” concludes India.