Just a month ago we where celebrating glorious moments of when a high-level court suspended construction of the controversial Belo Monte Dam project on the Amazon’s Xingu River, citing overwhelming evidence that indigenous people had not been properly consulted prior to government approval of the project.

Two weeks later, the Brazilian Supreme Court overturned the suspension of the Belo Monte Dam, caving to pressure from President Dilma Rousseff’s administration through the Attorney General’s office, without giving appropriate consideration to indigenous rights implications for the case, illustrating the Brazilian judiciary’s alarming lack of independence.

Then, on September 4th, as we expected, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed the decision, demanding that the Chief Justice reconsider his decision or allow a vote by the full Supreme Court. Earlier this week the appeal received written support by the Prosecutor General Office (PGR) reinforcing the necessity of the suspension until proper consultation takes place, as well as discrediting (or delegitimizing) the claim made by the Attorney General’s Office.

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