No to Belo Sun gold mining destruction. Yes to land rights in Volta Grande of Xingu, Amazonia

Approximately 40 landless families have reoccupied land in the Volta Grande of Xingu that has been claimed by Canadian gold mining enterprise, Belo Sun. At the end of 2021, Brazil's National Institute for Agrarian Reform, which is the federal government institute responsible for agrarian reform in Brazil, decided to cede a large area of traditionally occupied land to the Canadian based mining company, Belo Sun. It did so in exchange for a share in the profits of gold mining scheduled to take place in Volta Grande. do Xingu, in Pará.

Part of this land ceded to the mining company is within an existing agrarian reform settlement, which led the Public Defender's Office to file a lawsuit against this agreement. Belo Sun is subject to several legal cases related to its plans for a massive, open-pit gold mine in the heart of the Amazon. Knowing that justice processes are always too slow and that aggressors are rarely prosecuted for such crimes, a group of landless families organised themselves and, in April of this year, reclaimed their right to land and encamped in this territory.

The families are fighting for land to live and produce food. They denounce the trading of their settlement by the Bolsonaro government to the benefit of Belo Sun, and seek to protect the river and forest against further destruction as they witnessed with the Belo Monte dam construction in this region. In response, the mining company filed a lawsuit for repossession against the campers. But the action does not only ask for the expulsion of the landless. In what is seen as an underhand manoeuvre, Belo Sun is asking that all people and families living on the 2,700 hectares that it is targeting be removed by the police. This includes Vila Ressaca, a community with more than 200 families. Those resisting Belo Sun have been subject to harassment, intimidation and death threats. The encamped families fear of violence from Belo Sun's armed security guards but continue to resist; however, under these conditions they unable to plant crops and are in dire need of support to access basic food supplies and medicines. They have made an international appeal for solidarity. Belo Sun enjoys the support of many international investors. Those resisting the mine deserve the support across borders. To make a solidarity contribution, please go to: https://gofund.me/da3e55aa

For further information in English and Portuguese, see: https://xingumais.org.br/obra/mineracao-volta-grande-belo-sun