Baixo Iguaçu: between tragedy and farce

                                                                                                                      Photo: Joka Madruga

Reporter: Guilherme Weimann 

Edition: Inês Castilho

Photos: Joka Madruga and Elisa Julve

Vídeo: Guilherme Weimann and Elisa Julve

from Outras Palavras

Baixo Iguaçu is the largest Hydroelectric Power Plant in the south-west region of Paraná planed to be build on the Iguaçu river. Its project is part of the current policy of expansion of the national electricity sector. Officially, its construction will affect 360 families – as stated in the Basic Environmental Plan (PBA) of the plant. But, according to the accounts of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), there are 800 families who will be affected, which represents more than 3000 people. This is a recurring fact at the building of dams: the number of those accounted to be compensated for their losses is always lower than the real number of those affected.

The atmosphere of insurance lived by the inhabitants of the region reminds the last century when the land dispute generated an atmosphere of war between the settlers -who were benefited by the creation of land settlements in those regions by the Getúlio Vargas government- and the large companies, among transnational companies, which were protected by the governor of Paraná Moisés Lupion.

The small farmers (settlers) were organized and evicted the corporations of the region, episode named Revolt of the Settlers or Revolt of the Caboclos, of 1957.

The situation now is more complex. Because it also involves interests of the federal government. The group responsible for the dam construction named, ironically, Consórcio Geração Céu Azul (Generation Consortium Blue Sky) is formed by Copel (Paranaese Energy Company) and its major part by Neoenergia corporation, which is composed by the Welfare Fund of the Banco do Brasil (Previ), Banco do Brasil and of the Spanish multinational Iberdrola. Odebrecht is responsible for the building of the plant construction. The disrespect and the violence used against the inhabitants are generated by the same.

One of the critical cases of violation of rights occurred at the construction site, between the municipals of Capanema and Capitão Leônidas Marques, where eleven families had their properties affected. “They came with the reintegration of ownership and did not give time for anything. They said that we had to take our cattle out, otherwise they would fine us, as if the land were theirs. There are families that live here more than fifty years”, said Éder Junior Pichette, tenant of an area which is now part of the construction site.

Dona Irene is also affected by the construction site. She says that when the news came announcing that the construction would already begin it scared many people, caught all by surprise. “They came here invading, did not ask no one, they did not pay anyone. They came here and put our maize plantation down, the fences were put down and the cattle were loose, as if they were owners of all”. Dona Jurema, Irene’s sister live some meters up the construction site, where the Odebrecht’s machines work 24 hours a day. In many occasions she was obliged to present her documents to visit her sister. And at all visits she was accompanied by a guard, to make sure she was really going to her sister’s house. “And my sister did not receive a cent for her land.”

The plant of Baixo Iguaçu is planned to generate a potency of 350 Mega Watts, which could attend approximately one million of consumers. But, 60% of the energy generated with its three turbines are destined to the Company Vale do Rio Doce. This is just one of the classic case: in Brazil about 30% of the electric energy is consumed only by some few industrial sectors: cement, aluminium, iron, metallurgy, petrochemicals and cellulose.

                                                                                                    Photo: Joka Madruga

“Those are sectors which causes an enormous social and environmental impact and exports practically raw material, without any aggregated value”, observers Rodrigo Zancanaro, coordinator of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) at the state of Paraná. “The building of this dam can be transformed in a social tragedy and an announced social tragedy. The companies have juridical apparatus which persecutes and criminalize the affected people.”

“As Marx said, history repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce”, said the activist. “But, even if the memory of the time of the gunmen invokes fear in the collective imagination, the inheritance of resistance, struggle and achievement is very present.”

Iberdrola: Guilty!

On October 31 (of 2013), at a square of the old down-town of Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain, 60 organizations of 15 countries, performed a Street Court to judge the violations of human rights committed by Iberdrola, which headquarters is located in Bilbao. “For more than one year we are trying to negotiate with the company to know what will be the situation of the families of Baixo Iguaçu. Many people are getting ill, the demand at the health care have increased a lot lately. This is why we declare Iberdrola guilty”, said Rosane, school teacher and affected by the Baixo Iguaçu Hidreletric Plant.

Iberdrola is one of the five largest electric companies in the world, present in 40 countries, mainly in United Kingdom, United States, Brazil and Mexico. In 2010, produced 154073 Gigawatt/hour on electricity world-scale, which represents 30% of the national Brazilian electricity production, 509200 GWh. Since the nineties the company intensified the internalization of its business, mainly in Latin America, where Iberdrola bought many state companies.

                                                                                                       Photo:Elisa Julve

In Brazil, the multinational arrived in 1997, when acquired with Previ, the Guaraniana Consortium in the north-east of the country. Now, fifteen years later it dominates the distribution of electric energy for 11.5 million people through the Coelba (Bahia), Cosern (Rio Grande do Norte), Celpe (Pernambuco) and Elektro (São Paulo), old state companies. Around two thirds energy distributors are privatized in the country.

Since privatizations the price of electric energy have increased in 400%. Although our energy matrix is 80% based on hydroelectricity, energy which has the cheapest cost to be generated, the Brazilian consumer pays one of the top ten highest electricity fare; though in other countries thermoelectric and nuclear power is predominant, which has a much elevated production cost.

“No energy will be left over for us, none of the richness will be left over for us, everything will be exported. What stays behind is the (bad) treatment of the company towards the people affected by the power plant. The families affected live in what is now the construction site, suffer everyday night and day with the noise of the blasting rocks and of the machinery at the construction”, said Rosane.

                                                                                                                           Photo:Elisa Julve

Legislation

In Brazil, the only law that regards those affected by dams is dated from 1941, and guarantees the compensation of those who have the land title. Those who are tenants, share-croppers, merchants or workers (employees) are excluded of any kind of repair (compensation). At the opposite side, a rigid and complex regulatory framework govern the rights of the companies of the electric sector, with state benefits and incentives at energy generation, transmission and distribution, guaranteeing the profitability of the companies permanently.

The Baixo Iguaçu Power Plant is not an isolated case. At the Ten Year Plan for Energy Expansion 2021 the government pre-sees for the next ten years the construction of 34 hydroelectric power plants. According to MAB’s counting circa of 250 thousand people may be affected. Only in Amazon there are 15 hydro-power dams. Which includes Belo Monte, of which the Norte Energia Consortium is responsible for, and of which not by coincide, Iberdrola has 10% of its participation.