Xingu Encounter 2008 - May 19-23 Brazil is one of the world’s
leading dam–building nations, and is already highly dependent on
hydropower for its electricity, with about 80% of its electrical
energy coming from large dams. Despite recent initiatives to
diversify the country’s sources of electrical energy generation,
energy planners and industries are pressing for a major
expansion of hydroelectricity in Brazil, saying it is crucial
for the nation’s economic growth. While dam opponents advocate
for more appropriate and less destructive ways to get
electricity, Maurício Tolmasquim, head of the national energy
planning agency EPE, has said that opponents of dams "would have
Brazil return to the stone age." Construction of dams in Brazil
has caused enormous social and environmental impacts. The
Brazilian Dam–Affected Peoples Movement (MAB) estimates that one
million Brazilians have been impacted by dam construction, and
that 70% of these people have not received compensation for
their losses. MAB, which was origi