Belo Monte will be the world´s third-largest hydroelectric project and will displace up to 20,000 people while diverting the Xingu River and flooding as much as 230 square miles of rainforest. The controversial project is one of around 60 hydroelectric projects Brazil has planned in the Amazon to generate electricity for its rapidly expanding economy—and one that has generated an enormous amount of criticism.
Faces of the Lost: Photos from Brazil’s Controversial Belo Monte Dam
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Protesters demonstrate against the Belo Monte dam project near the area where the dam complex is under construction in the Amazon basin on June 15, 2012 in Altamira, Brazil.