[04/15/2007] AP Reports: Brazil Landless Workers Try to Halt River Diversion Project

SAO PAULO, Brazil: Thousands of landless workers invaded government property in Brazil's arid northeast to try to stop a controversial river-diversion project critics claim will hinder agrarian reform and lavish benefits on agribusiness, a spokeswoman for the workers said Sunday.

About 7,500 people invaded plots of government-owned land Saturday near Petrolina, 2,200 kilometers (1,360 miles) north of Sao Paulo in Pernambuco state, said Cassia Bechara, a spokeswoman for the Landless Rural Workers Movement, or MST.

While the MST said 2,000 families took part, Pernambuco state authorities told local media only 800 families were camped out following the land invasions.

The MST said in a statement the protest was launched because thousands of rural workers were forced to leave their lands because of the diversion project involving the Sao Francisco River, Brazil's fourth largest. The MST also said the project will give agribusiness companies the best land, while poor rural workers will be left with unproductive areas.

The project is meant to benefit some 12 million poor people in one of Brazil's most destitute regions by irrigating large areas nearly as dry as a desert. It has also generated fierce opposition from environmentalists, who say the diversion could dry up the river for part of the year.

Brazil's environmental protection agency Ibama last month approved the US$2 billion (€1.5 billion) project to shift the river's course. Congress still must approve funding for parts of the project.

The project, first proposed as far back as 1886, would create a new channel for the 1,600-mile-long river, which could speed its flow toward the ocean and cause it to dry up during parts of the year, critics say.

In 2005, Roman Catholic Bishop Luiz Flavio Cappio held an 11-day hunger strike in an attempt to stop the project. He called it off after the federal government agreed to open the project to further discussions.
~~~
Article originally available @ http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/15/america/LA-GEN-Brazil-River-Pr...