At 10 Years, Belo Monte Faces Renewed Human‑Rights Pressure on Xingu Flows

Overview

• Civil society groups, which published an open letter Tuesday on the project’s 10th anniversary, urged the Inter‑American Commission on Human Rights to admit a long‑pending case on alleged abuses tied to Belo Monte.
• Community monitors say the dam diverts about 80% of the Xingu’s natural flow in the Volta Grande and report no fish‑spawning runs since 2023, which they link to collapsed artisanal fishing, food insecurity, and harder river travel.
• Norte Energia counters that it is meeting licensing terms, saying 42 of 71 socio‑environmental obligations are complete and 29 are in progress, and it cites company data showing 140 spawning sites and stable food‑consumption indicators.
• The hydropower complex has produced 255,193,675 MWh over a decade, supplying up to 16% of national peak demand and about 5% annually, and it operates under a state‑defined water‑release schedule that shapes river levels.
• The petition filed in 2011 still awaits an admissibility and merits decision, and the signatories seek an ecological flow plan, recognition of ribeirinho territory, full reparations, and a pause on new high‑impact projects in the region until damages are addressed.