Electric giant, Equatorial supplies energy to invaders of indigenous lands in PA

One of the largest distributors in the country, Equatorial Energia sells the image of a company that supports the preservation of the Amazon and social responsibility. But, far from social media, it has provided electricity to squatters from some of the country’s most deforested indigenous lands.

Documents obtained by sheet show that, in two indigenous lands in the Médio Xingu region (PA), Equatorial supplies energy without the authorization of Funai and environmental licensing by Ibama, as required by law. In an area with probable presence of isolated people, the company continued with the distribution of light even after having two requests for authorization denied by Funai and by Ibama.

Through its press office, Equatorial claims that it complies with all legal requirements and all environmental requirements in the calls under its responsibility in Pará.

In the Apyterewa Indigenous Land, in the municipality of São Félix do Xingu (PA), Equatorial’s energy supplies Vila Renascer. The village was built illegally, when the area had already been regularized as a territory of the Parakanã people, and serves as support for land grabbers and miners. There is a gas station, restaurants, markets, hotel and internet service.

The report of sheet was at the site in September 2020 and found tens of kilometers of energy poles on the access road and inside Renascer. Two months later, in November, Funai notified Equatorial to remove the entire structure from inside Apyterewa within seven days. The company did nothing and received a fine of R$ 201,000.

In the inspection report, Ibama states that the supply of electricity encourages invasion, which generates deforestation and pollution from garbage and sewage without destination.

Regarding its operations in Apyterewa, Equatorial says that “it is awaiting instructions from Funai to meet IBAMA’s request for the removal of irregular calls made by third parties, without the company’s absence”.

threat to isolates

In the same region of the Middle Xingu, Equatorial itself admitted to Ibama the existence of eight installations within the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land, an area banned by the federal government since 2011 due to the possible presence of isolated indigenous peoples.

In February, Ibama fined Equatorial R$ 2.51 million for having installed the transmission grid in Ituna/Itatá without the authorization of Funai and Ibama and for not having cut off the distribution of energy to the invaders. Months earlier, the environmental agency offered an escort for the removal of the structure, but the company’s office in Marabá (PA) refused the proposal.

Years earlier, in 2018, Equatorial tried, but did not get legal permission to operate there. At the time, under the name Celpa, the company filed a request for authorization to install a network of 68 km in Ituna/Itatá, which Funai denied. The opinion of the indigenous body rejected, stating that “the project aims to benefit non-indigenous people who are illegally occupying”.

Even with the denial, Equatorial, in the same year, insisted on the environmental licensing at Ibama, which was also refused. Under the law, the first step is authorization from Funai.

One of Equatorial’s clients in Ituna-Itatá is Walter Rosa Alvino, accused by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) for deforesting 48 hectares of intact forest within the indigenous land. In the case file, he denies the crime.

In parallel, Alvino filed a lawsuit to try to legalize the invasion. He claims that he was the beneficiary of a generous donation of 2,337 hectares of forest from the state government in 2010. In the process, the Attorney General of the State of Pará claims that this donation does not exist.

“The Indigenous Land Ituna/Itatá is currently under intense pressure and invasion by economic agents in the region. Such irregular occupation has seriously compromised the survival conditions of possible isolated Indians in the area, as reported in several accusations made by this Funai” , says the federal indigenist agency, in a statement in the lawsuit filed by Alvino.

The invaders from Ituna/Itatá have as their political ally the senator and evangelical pastor Zequinha Marinho (PSC-PA). He defends the end of the renewal of the ban on the use of the area, every three years, which would open the way for legalizing land grabbing.

Equatorial said that “it acts in permanent dialogue with all the competent bodies” and denied that it had been fined.

“With regard specifically to Ibama notifications, they are not necessarily manifestations of irregularities and may be part of the licensing process,” he said, through his press office.

record deforestation

The situation in both areas is critical. Apyterewa was the most deforested indigenous land in Brazil between August 2020 and July 2021, according to INPE (National Institute for Space Research), a loss of 6,850 hectares of forest. In the accumulated total, the territory of the Parakanãs has already had 11% of its native vegetation converted into pasture.

In 2019, Ituna/Itatá was the most devastated in the country, with 11,990 hectares of destruction, an increase of 663% compared to the previous year. Deforestation fell in 2020 with actions by Ibama, but it is rising again, according to Sirad X, the monitoring system of the Xingu+ initiative, which brings together civil society entities. In September alone, the most recent data, 785 hectares of forest were cut down.

Despite acting in these areas contrary to environmental legislation, Equatorial Energia seeks to project an image of sustainability. Earlier this month, it sponsored the event “Amazônia in Loco” in Belém, about sustainable practices. He set up a stand decorated with potted plants and distributed açaí seedlings.

“The energy we have can also work together with the preservation of our nature,” said sustainability analyst Michelle Miranda in a video on social media published during the event.

“This company, which theoretically has an environmental concern, is supporting the process of illegal invasion of indigenous land”, says Leonardo Lenin, an indigenist at the OPI (Observatory for the Human Rights of Isolated and Recent Contact Indigenous Peoples). “It legitimizes and enhances this occupation, as it makes life easier for these invaders in isolated territories.”