The recent Brazilian expansion is contrasting with the global tendency and the global economic crisis. As the country wealth is rising, new infrastructures are needed to support the new Brazilian growth.
The Belo Monte dam, on the Xingu River, is one of them.
The dam, which will be the world's third largest and will flood an area of approximately 500 square kilometers, will have serious consequences on the environment and the communities living on the shores of the Xingu.
Apart from affecting several indigenous territories, the dam will flood one third of the city of Altamira, which is already suffering from an increasing crime rate due to the massive immigration caused by the working opportunities offered by the dam.
The tension on the Xingu is rising, as the Amazon people try to cope with the so-called progress and resist against the project.