The World - News from Feb. 21, 1989
Hundreds of Indians, wearing paint and carrying spears, gathered in the Brazilian Amazon town of Altamira to protest plans for hydroelectric dams that they say will drown the rain forest and displace 7,000 Indians. The unusual five-day meeting has brought together environmentalists, foreign media and Indians from about 15 tribes. On the opposing side, thousands of pro-dam demonstrators in vehicles and on horseback paraded through the remote town, carrying signs reading “The Dams Mean More Jobs and More Progress.” The Brazilian government plans to build two dams on the Xingu River at an estimated cost of $10.6 billion. The proposed dams would flood thousands of square miles of land.
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