Right of existence and self-determination of indigenous peoples in the face of threats from the hydroelectric complex in the Juruena basin: the case of the Castanheira hydroelectric plant project

Abstract

The Amazon Rainforest has been the grandstand of megaproject of infrastructure and development which results in thoughtful socio-environmental conflicts with impacts on several indigenous peoples. In this context, wonders about the respect of these enterprises to national legislation and to the international commitments whereof Brazil is a signatory. To answer this question, we present the study of an emblematic case: the project of UHE Castanheira, in Mato Grosso, whose achievement comprises a series of official documents such as the environmental licensing process, civil inquiries in progress in face of the Federal and State Public Prosecutors, among others. Opening from the documentary analysis and using the methodology of Investigación-Acción-Participativa, this paper seeks to think on the colonialist and neo-extractive geopolitics in the Forest Amazon, suggesting a perspective on territorial rights as attached from the right of existence and analyzing the concepts of ethnocide and genocide. It follows that the violation of the right of consultation and prior, free and informed consent, added to the irreversibility of the socio-environmental damages, reveal the incompatibility of this project in face of the peoples' right of existence. The paper presents experiences of independent consultation protocols, such as the Munduruku Protocol, Juruna Protocol (Yudjá) and the Protocol of the Irantxe-Manoki people, as an exercise in the self-determination and existence of the peoples of the Amazon