by Victória Holzbach / MAB

The plurality of the plenary session indicated that it was not just another routine meeting. It is a moment to make history and continue the path sown decades ago in countless lands, by the hands of so many peoples and in different languages ​​and cultures. The more than 200 delegates – from five continents – celebrated this Friday afternoon (07) the opening of the IV International Meeting of People Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis, in Belém, Pará.

Initially, Soniamara Maranho, from the coordination of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAR), welcomed the delegations and greeted the political and strategic allies present at the event, who “strengthen the journey towards building a just, egalitarian, socialist society”.

Soniamara Maranho, who is part of the MAR coordination team, highlighted the process of building the International Movement during the opening ceremony. Photo: Marcelo Aguilar / MAB

Soniamara continued with the announcement of the creation of the International Movement of People Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis, and explained that MAR is a grassroots movement, made especially by women “who want to build a popular energy project and an alternative to the capitalist system.”

“We believe that the construction of the affected subject helps us confront big capital and the geopolitical struggle of the world, where they try to appropriate everything for profitability. But our territories are territories of resistance!” Soniamara stated.

“You are all very important to Brazil and to the world!”

The Minister of Women, Márcia Lopes, recognizes the work of MAB and of MAR in the organization of the struggle of affected peoples. Photo: Joka Madruga / MAB

The statement by the Minister for Women, Márcia Lopes, was addressed to the Movement of People Affected by Dams in Brazil (MAB) and MAR, which she congratulated “for the power that both movements represent.”

At the opening session of the meeting, the minister especially highlighted the importance of women in building solutions to the climate crisis, “because they know how to take care of nature,” and acknowledged her great responsibility: “As Minister for Women, I have a great responsibility to 110 million Brazilian women, from the forests, fields, and woodlands. Women who break babaçu coconuts, women who collect waste, women in hip-hop, quilombola women, Indigenous women. Women who are in the streets, migrant women, LGBTQ+ women. In short, all Brazilian women.”

The minister continued her speech by warning of the social debt owed to those affected, of “at least 40 or 50 years,” and stated that “MAB has always been a great partner, studying, dialoguing, and doing everything possible to ensure that public resources are put at the service of social movements in Brazil.”

Márcia concluded by highlighting the MAB’s Arpilleras as signs of history, memory, and marks of the struggles and resistance of women in their territories. “Also of the suffering of all women who are always at the center of the debate when we talk about the climate crisis, the failure of the state, and natural disasters,” she pointed out.

Toya Manchineri, from COIAB, greeted delegates from around the world on behalf of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. Photo: Joka Madruga / MAB

In addition to other movements and partner institutions of the MAB, the general coordinator of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), Toya Manchineri, also participated in the panel. On behalf of the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, he greeted the delegates from the 45 countries participating in the meeting and recalled the importance of the articulation of peoples in the struggle for rights, territories, and popular sovereignty:

“Our struggle is quite similar and is the same in the defense of our rights and our territory. We are partners in the struggle and we will continue together, because the answer is us. If it weren’t for us – Indigenous people, affected people, quilombola communities – everything would be destroyed!”

Decades of Resistance of Affected People 

The afternoon began with the historic resumption of international meetings, starting with the first one in Curitiba, then moving on to Thailand and Mexico, culminating in Belém for this 4th International Meeting of Communities Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis.

The moment was an opportunity to reflect on the construction of internationalism and solidarity among those affected in so many countries, as well as the trust built between movements and organizations. This path allows us today to celebrate nine years of the Movement of People Affected by Dams in Latin America and to consolidate the construction of the International Movement of People Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis.

The Secretary of Family Agriculture of Pará was at the official opening table of the IV International Meeting. Photo: Joka Madruga / MAB

This path was highlighted by the Secretary of Family Agriculture of the State of Pará, Cássio Alves Pereira, who stated during the panel that “the search for mitigation of the impacts of climate change is in the DNA of the MAB and MAR”. Looking at the struggle of affected populations around the world in recent decades, he pointed out that those affected are historical and exemplary subjects “in the struggle for adaptation from a social, environmental and even production made perspective”.

Cássio concluded by thanking those affected for their organization and resilience, highlighting that this 4th International Meeting should shed light on issues for society as a whole and for governments: “Your experience should generate reflections and paths of possibility to confront the climate crisis,” Pereira concluded.