Brazil judge overturns delay for bidding on controversial Amazon dam

Amazon dam delay overturned by Brazil judge

BRASILIA, Brazil — A judge on Friday overturned a decision that could have delayed construction of a huge Amazon dam opposed by environmentalists, Indians and the director of “Avatar.”

The judge in the capital of Brasilia reversed a decision to suspend contract bidding scheduled for next week and also overturned the suspension of the environmental license for the 11,000-megawatt Belo Monte dam, according to a statement from Brazil’s solicitor general.

A spokeswoman for Brazil’s electricity regulator, known as Aneel, said that plans were being made to hold the auction as planned for Tuesday but that the latest decision could be appealed. She spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with policy.

“Avatar” director James Cameron was in Brazil this week to protest the dam, and the decision to delay bidding came on Wednesday.

Environmentalists and indigenous groups say Belo Monte would devastate wildlife and the livelihoods of 40,000 people who live in the area to be flooded. They also argue that the energy generated by the dam will largely go to big mining operations, instead of benefiting most Brazilians.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has repeatedly insisted that the dam is essential for Brazil’s future energy needs.

Latin America’s largest nation has a fragile energy grid that was hit last year by a blackout that darkened much of the nation. Belo Monte would supply 6 percent of the country’s electricity needs by 2014, the same year Brazil will host soccer’s World Cup and just two years before Rio de Janeiro holds the 2016 Olympics.

Cameron this week called the proposed dam a “pivotal battleground” because it will set the stage for development of more dams.

He took part in a protest against the dam in Brasilia and visited with Indians in the small Amazon city of Altamira near the proposed dam site.

Associated Press Writer Alan Clendenning contributed from Sao Paulo.