A group of about 300 Indians from 11 different groups on Sunday seized a controversial dam that is under construction in Brazil’s Amazon jungle and took about 100 workers hostage, officials said.
President Lula da Silva reassured Paraguay that Brazil will build the promised 500 kW power transmission line from the Itaipú dam to the capital Asunción, as well as a bridge over the Paraná River shared by both countries.
Paraguay’s president Fernando Lugo said he is looking forward to the coming meeting next May 3 with his Brazilian counterpart Lula da Silva because he would be coming back with “good news” referred to the shared power from Itaipu, the world’s second largest hydroelectric dam belonging to both countries.
Protesters in the southern Peruvian province of Islay ended their six-day general strike after the government agreed to temporarily suspend a controversial mining project.
The Brazilian government accepted bids Tuesday to build what would be the world’s third-largest hydroelectric dam in the Amazon. Officials proceeded with the auction immediately after a judge overturned another magistrate’s injunction blocking the tender and revoking the environmental permit for the 11,000 MW Belo Monte complex.