{"id":99651,"date":"2017-10-09T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=99651"},"modified":"2017-10-03T13:46:32","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T12:46:32","slug":"in-neoliberal-putsch-brazil-auctions-off-indigenous-lands-public-utilities-to-foreign-interests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/10\/in-neoliberal-putsch-brazil-auctions-off-indigenous-lands-public-utilities-to-foreign-interests\/","title":{"rendered":"In Neoliberal Putsch, Brazil Auctions Off Indigenous Lands, Public Utilities to Foreign Interests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday’s [28 Sep] auction was a juicy meal for the 32 corporate bidders, which included such major Western energy giants as Shell, ExxonMobil, and BP. Unprecedented in size and in the opposition it provoked, the auction fit neatly into Temer\u2019s neoliberal agenda for Brazil.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Brazilian residents and Amazon indigenous leaders protest Brazil\u2019s president Michel Temer, outside New York\u2019s Palace Hotel while he dines with US president Donald Trump on September 18, 2017 in New York. Temer is mired in corruption scandals, and is under fire for measures that environmentalists say are an attack on the Amazon rainforest. (Bennett Raglin\/AP for AVAAZ)<\/p><\/div>\n

2 Oct 2017 – <\/em>Indigenous and environmental activists scuffled with security guards<\/a> after attempting to enter and interrupt an auction organized by the unelected President of Brazil, Michel Temer, last Thursday. Activists were particularly incensed that the auction was set to sell ancestral indigenous lands in the state of Minas Gerais to mining interests, as well as open up coastal areas to unorthodox exploration and resource extraction methods by foreign oil and gas companies.<\/p>\n

The auction, the 14th of its kind in Brazilian history, was touted as part of the government\u2019s wider efforts aimed at mitigating the consequences of the worst economic recession in its history \u2014 efforts that closely follow the neoliberal model<\/a> of privatizing public assets by selling or auctioning them to foreign corporations. Previous auctions, the last of which occurred in 2015, were significantly smaller<\/a> in scope in terms of the funds generated and the resources up for sale, with the focus usually on oil and gas reserves.<\/p>\n

However, this year\u2019s auction also included<\/a> critical parts of Brazil\u2019s electrical grid as well as its national mint, up for bid in an effort to attract \u201cforeign investment.\u201d Administration officials had hoped that strong participation from foreign companies and investors would signal renewed faith in Brazil\u2019s neoliberal \u201crecovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thirty-two corporations took part in Thursday\u2019s auction, which sought to generate up to $80 billion in foreign investment. Many Western energy companies \u2014 including<\/a> Shell, ExxonMobil, BP and Total \u2014 participated. All were ostensibly eager to obtain access to Brazil\u2019s rich oil and gas reserves, many of which are located in indigenous<\/a> or ecologically fragile<\/a> territories. ExxonMobil alone purchased $1.2 billion<\/a> in oil rights during the auction.<\/p>\n

Parts of the Brazilian electric grid sold for far less. Electrobras, the state-run electricity company, ultimately auctioned off its electricity distribution subsidiaries for a single real<\/a>, valued at approximately $0.30. According to Reuters<\/a>, the obscenely low price was due to Electrobras\u2019 outstanding debts and Brazil\u2019s state plan of privatizing the currently public utility by next year.<\/p>\n

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Indigenous protesters hold a poster depicting Brazil\u2019s President Michel Temer as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler with the Portuguese word \u201cTraitor\u201d in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, April 28, 2017.
(AP\/Eraldo Peres)<\/p><\/div>\n

Opposition among indigenous and environmental activists, establishment pols<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nicole Figueiredo, director of the NGO 350.org for Latin America \u2014 which advocates for environmental protection and indigenous rights \u2014 told AFP<\/a> that the Temer government was offering foreign companies the ability to use \u201cunconventional\u201d means, including hydraulic fracturing or \u201cfracking,\u201d to extract and explore for oil and gas in the regions up for bidding. Indigenous groups have expressed<\/a> their concern that fracking, in particular, could destroy their communities\u2019 water sources and endanger their livelihoods.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/OilStockPicks\/status\/913776148353499136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mintpressnews.com%2Fneoliberal-brazil-auctions-indigenous-lands-public-utilities-foreign-interests-latest%2F232682%2F<\/p>\n

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Brazil's Eletrobras to auction indebted distributors for 30 cents – sources https:\/\/t.co\/u5USxjQYQS<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jake Spring (@jakespring) September 29, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n