A federal court in Brazil ruled Nov. 9 that work on the Belo Monte dam being constructed on the Xingu River in the Amazon rainforest may continue. The Federal Court of the First Region had ordered that dam construction cease until indigenous groups are consulted and given access to environmental impact reports, but the court reversed that decision in a 2-1 vote, upholding the decree issued by Para state authorizing the dam's construction. Maria do Carmo Cardoso, a court judge, held that the indigenous communities are entitled to be consulted, but the law does not say that this must be done before approval of the work. When completed, the $11 billion, 11,000-megawatt dam will be the world's third largest behind China's Three Gorges dam and the Itaipu, which straddles the border of Brazil and Paraguay. The project is expected to employ 20,000 people directly in construction, flood an area of 500 square kilometers (200 square miles) and displace 16,000 persons. Environmentalists and indigenous groups say the dam will devastate wildlife and the livelihoods of as many as 40,000 people who live in the area to be flooded. The government says the dam will provide clean, renewable energy and is essential to fuel Brazil's growing economy. The federal prosecutor's office in Para plans to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Raquel Yrigoyen Fajardo, fired last week as head of Peru's indigenous affair agency INDEPA, is publicly accusing the government of removing her because she annulled the agency's approval of an environmental impact study for expansion of the Camisea gas-fields in the Amazon rainforest. The proposed expansion of the Pluspetrol-led consortium's exploration in Lot 88 would impact the Kugapakori Nahua Nanti Territorial Reserve, where "uncontacted" indigenous groups are believed to live. Her move to withdraw approval for the expansion came one day before she was suddenly replaced Oct. 19. She charged that the approval, granted under the previous administration before her appointment by newly elected President Ollanta Humala, was illegal. (Survival International, Oct. 27; Servindi, Oct. 25)

The cross-country Eighth Indigenous March arrived in La Paz Oct. 19, to a tumultuous welcome. Cheering supporters lined the city's historic San Francisco plaza, including a large group of uniformed schoolchildren holding hand-made signs in support of the protesters. The marchers later established an encampment at Plaza Murillo, where the presidential palace is located. Two days later, President Evo Morales announced that he would alter plans for the road linking Bolivia with Brazil so that it will not pass through the TIPNIS indigenous reserve. "And so the matter is resolved," Morales told reporters. "For me, this is called governing by obeying the people." (AP, Oct. 21; La Opinión, Cochabamba, Oct. 20)

Peru's National Protected Areas Service (SERNANP) is calling upon residents in Madre de Dios region to avoid contact with indigenous rainforest dwellers in "voluntary isolation"—often refered to as "uncontacted"—after a confrontation with one such band on the Río Yanayacu in Manu national park on Oct. 14. SERNANP secretary general Carlos Soria Dall'Orso said a group of park rangers was on patrol in an outboard motor boat when they spotted the band of some 20—men, women, children and elders—walking on the riverbank. A released video taken from the boat show the band slowly reacting to the rangers' presence, eventually throwing stones at them, and then firing one arrow—at which point the boat speeds off and the video abruptly ends. One ranger was lightly injured—but the band was clearly just trying to scare the rangers off, as the fired arrow had no point. The band is believed to belong to the Mashcopiro people, a sub-group of the Matsiguenga. SERNANP expressed concern for the health and well-being of the isolated bands if they are contacted by outsiders, and noted an incident in May in which one such band was photographed from a boat by park visitors. (RPP, Oct. 17; El Comercio, May 25)

Tens of thousands converged on the center of the Bolivian capital La Paz Oct. 12 to demonstrate support for President Evo Morales in his political stand-off with indigenous protesters from the eastern lowlands over a proposed highway through the TIPNIS rainforest reserve. Highland campesinos, coca growers and union members came out for the rally, and the Associated Press reported that some public servants said they were "obliged to take part." Morales addressed the demonstration, claiming that unnamed political forces were behind the protest movement in a conspiracy to divide Bolivia’s indigenous majority. Referring to himself in the third person, he later told Venezuela's TeleSUR that "TIPNIS is a banner to attack Evo." Again implying that the protesters are manipulated by the US and Bolivia's right-wing opposition, he said that "the historic enemies of the indigenous movement and Mother Earth now appear as defenders" of indigenous rights. (TeleSUR, Oct. 13; AP, Oct. 12)

A Colombian photographer whose photos of the Nukak tribe have helped publicize their plight has received threats, apparently from right-wing paramilitaries. Juan Pablo Gutiérrez had been working in the southern Colombian Amazon documenting the Nukak, whose lives have been devastated by the loss of their lands at the hands of armed groups and coca-growing colonists. Last month, Gutiérrez received an e-mail from a sender identified only as "Callon001," which read: "Stop fucking around [deje de joder] with your photos and your undesirable position as a human rights defender. You're a left-wing guerrilla dressed up as a photographer. We want you to know…that we are following your footsteps, we know where you live and where you’re going, and if you continue to fuck around, next time it won’t be a letter. We will come and find you in person." (Survival International, SI, Sept. 19)

Bolivia's Chamber of Deputies voted Oct. 11 to approve President Evo Morales' decision to halt a controversial road project through the country's eastern Amazon rainforest in order to consult with the local population. Chamber of Deputies president Héctor Arce said halting the project would open the way for an "informed dialogue" with the affected communities. Despite the vote—and a police attack on their camp last month—indigenous protesters who oppose the highway project said they would continue their cross-country march on La Paz. The march, numbering some 2,000, has advanced within 100 kilometers of La Paz, but has slowed in recent days, the lowland rainforest inhabitants being unaccustomed to the cold weather and thin air of the altiplano. March leaders said they would probably not arrive until next week, to allow this weekend's judicial elections to go ahead without interference. A march of counter-protesters in expected in La Paz tomorrow. (AFP, InfoBAE, Argentina, Oct. 11)

Peru has leased its first five oil and gas exploration contracts since passing a new law designed to protect the country's indigenous peoples. Exploration blocks have been awarded to British firm Pitkin Petroleum (Lot 18, Piura region) and Colombia's Ecopetrol (Lot 179, Loreto region). Another British firm, Hydrocarbon Exploration, has contracts to explore two blocks (Lots 183 and 188, in Loreto and Ucayali). Another block is leased to Argentina's Tecpetrol (Lot 174, Ucayali). State agency PeruPetro said the companies, which won the exploration rights through a tender in July, re-signed in October with an added clause confirming "their commitment to strictly comply with the law of prior consultation." (FT, Oct. 4; RPP, Sept. 29; La Mula, Lima, Aug. 4)