A-Infos (en) Brazil, CAB: A SHOWCASE OF COLONIALISM (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Today, November 10, 2025, Belém do Pará hosted the first day of the 30th 
edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP30), a meeting on climate 
change promoted by the UN, which so far has the participation of 148 
countries. ---- This will be the fourth time this event has come to 
South America, the first time in Brazil. Heralded with great fanfare by 
the Lula (PT)/Alckmin (PSB) and Helder Barbalho (MDB) governments, the 
"achievement" of bringing the COP to the Amazon region (to Brazil) has 
been sold on the promise of many legacies it will leave behind.

GOVERNING FOR MINING
The federal/state government maintains an image of confronting the 
environmental crisis; however, at the first bend in the river, the facts 
deforest this image. Let's look at some of the legacies.

In 2021, Helder Barbalho signed a "letter of intent" with six mining 
companies, including the Canadian company Belo Sun, which irregularly 
purchased land from agrarian reform in the municipality of Senador José 
Porfírio, in the state of Pará, for the controversial "Volta Grande 
Project," which could become the largest open-pit gold mine in the country.

TEMPORAL FRAMEWORK AND ILLEGAL MINING

The neoliberal policies adopted by state and federal governments and 
Congress have only aggravated the environmental issue.

The temporal framework for indigenous lands is a clear example of this, 
culminating now in the bill that regulates research and illegal mining 
on these lands (PL 1.331/2022), a plan associated with an abundant 
workforce, since unemployment and low income affecting the 
municipalities encourage young people to seek sustenance in illegal 
mining and logging in the region.

The privatization of water and sewage services throughout Brazil via the 
sanitation framework, especially in the Amazon region which has been 
experienced in several cities, has resulted in large concessions that 
have been or are being granted to private companies, mainly Aegea 
Saneamento.

The privatization of the Amazon rivers (Madeira, Tocantins, and Tapajós) 
under the National Privatization Program (PND) for the concession of 
their use for the construction of waterways threatens the lives and 
territories of indigenous, quilombola, and traditional peoples who 
depend on the rivers for their subsistence.

WILDFIRES AND DROUGHT

The closest example to begin is the detonation of the Pedral do Lourenço 
for the implementation of the Tocantins-Araguaia waterway, which 
foresees at least two and a half years of explosions, destroying the 
habitat of various fish species, a lethal consequence for several 
communities.

During 2023, cities in the North and some in the Midwest suffered from 
smoke resulting from wildfires in the Amazon. Manaus recorded the second 
worst air quality in the world, in addition to facing a severe drought 
that affected several municipalities throughout the Amazon region.

HUNGER, THIRST, AND UNSAFE AIR

This drought caused food insecurity and health problems due to the 
consumption of non-potable water by riverside communities, quilombola 
communities, and indigenous peoples of the region. This scenario was 
repeated with greater force in 2024.

Orchestrated by AGRO-BUSINESS-POP, mainly in municipalities of the 
so-called deforestation arc, the region recorded record numbers of fire 
outbreaks; the smoke generated reached cities in the central-south and 
south of the country, intensifying the air pollution process and causing 
various respiratory diseases in the population.

AMAZON EXPLOITED BY THE ELITE

Now, more recently, the authorization for oil exploration at the mouth 
of the Amazon will cost the existence of unique and essential ecosystems 
for the planet, such as the mangroves and reefs located there.

The risk of an oil spill is very high; the impacts on the food and 
economic security of fishing and traditional communities will only 
reaffirm the Amazon's position as a region of exploitation by national 
elites subservient to fossil capitalism, deepening the scenario of 
hunger and misery in the region and aggravating the global environmental 
crisis.

ANTI-CAPITALISM, BEFORE THE RICH BURN THE WORLD!

Let's not be fooled by the tale of green capitalism widely defended by 
the leaders of nation-states. We know well that climate catastrophe is a 
political and economic phenomenon, because it is thanks to the 
international capitalist system, allied with the economic interests of 
nation-states and their local elites, that predatory extraction and 
agribusiness sink their claws into territories to suck every last penny 
they can from the land.

That's why we shout: LET THE RICH PAY FOR THE CLIMATE CRISIS, since it 
is their companies that invade and exploit the land, devastate forests, 
and pollute the waters.

Let the rich pay for the destruction driven by maintaining their 
parasitism, their whims, the concentration of power, goods, and capital 
in their hands. May we be able to drag them from their comfort zone in 
the face of the end of the world they have imposed upon us!

https://cabanarquista.com.br/cop-30-uma-vitrine-do-colonialismo/
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