Brazilian Amazon Protest: Raw Video

Dozens of Brazilian natives camped out in front of Brazil's Congress on Monday (April 19) to protest the infrastructure projects they say will threaten the survival of Amazon tribes.

The construction of the 11,000 megawatt Belo Monte dam was the focus of the protest staged by some 80 members of several tribes to mark Brazil's national Indians Day.

Indian rights groups say the controversial $17-billion dollar project, which has also sparked protests by environmentalists, will displace thousands of local residents and harm the sensitive Amazon rain forest.

The Indians performed rituals in the heart of Brazil's capital city to oppose the construction of other dams, power lines, roads and gas pipelines planned in the Amazon region.

Indian Chief Corubo, of the Amazon's Vale do Javari region, said the Belo Monte dam and other projects would not only harm the environment, but also slaughter tribes.

"Large sums of money are pouring in from Europe, France, Switzerland, Germany, China and Japan. They are occupying all of the Amazon, building dams and water deposits for their own benefit. They don't care about what will become of the Indian lands. They (Indians of the Xingu valley) will be forced out of their lands, they won't have homes. The indigenous population will be practically massacred," he said.

Corubo also criticized developed countries for investing in projects that damage the environment.

"For those reasons we ask that they have consciousness of the environment. The indigenous population protects the environment; it has policies for the future, because in the future... The ozone layer is screaming for help... In 20 years the ozone layer will be destroyed and the first world countries don't see that, they don't want to look," he said.

Government leaders say the Belo Monte project is crucial to ensure power supplies for one of the world's fastest growing economies.

Indians fear this and other projects will bring more loggers, wildcat miners, pollution and disease to the Amazon rainforest. Many tribes are already struggling to survive with land disputes and diseases that plague the region.