During the first week of June, Brazilian President, Femando Henrique Cardoso, inaugurated the 1200MW Serra de Mesa hydroelectric project on the Tocantins river. The construction of the project, which commenced in 1987, was affected by shortages of funds and controversy due to environmental concerns.
The Ava-Canoeros indigenous community, whose known population has been reduced to a family of six people, suffered the flooding of 10% of their 30,000ha of land due to the 159m-high and 1544m-long dam. So far there has been no compensation for peasants whose lands and homes were flooded.
