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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/27/the-river-won-how-campaigners-in-brazilian-amazon-stopped-privatisation-of-waterway>
"“A victory for life.” That was the triumphal message from Indigenous
campaigners in the Brazilian Amazon this week after they staved off a threat to
the Tapajós River by occupying a grain terminal operated by Cargill, the
biggest privately owned company in the United States.
“The river won, the forest won, the memory of our ancestors won,” said the
campaigners in Santarém when it was clear their actions had forced the
Brazilian government into a U-turn on plans to privatise one of the world’s
most beautiful waterways and expand its role as a soy canal.
What was arguably most impressive about this historic win was the apparently
mismatched nature of the contest: on one side were about 1,000 local river
defenders, mostly from the Munduruku, Arapiun and Apiaká peoples, and on the
other were some of the most powerful forces of global capitalism and climate
breakdown.
It has been barely a month since the US military launched an attack across the
border in Venezuela, its first overt strike on an Amazon nation. That was
carried out with the clear intention of securing resources – in that case,
primarily oil – and to impose US business dominance in the region.
Undaunted, the activists in Santarém took on one of the US powerhouses of world
trade. Cargill generates revenues of more than $160bn (£119bn) a year, employs
155,000 people and accounts for more than 70% of the soy and maize shipped
through Santarém."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
