Paulo Winterstein – Reuters, 7/27/2012
SAO PAULO—Indigenous leaders in Brazil released on Friday the last of the three engineers working on the controversial $13 billion Belo Monte dam in Brazil’s north, Brazil’s national indigenous institute Funai said.
The engineers working for Norte Energia, a consortium of Brazilian companies and pension funds, had been held hostage since Tuesday in a village close to where the 11,233-megawatt dam is being built on the Xingu River. One employee was released Thursday night, and the other two were released Friday morning and were on their way to the nearby city of Altamira, a spokesman for Funai said.
Norte Energia confirmed the release of all three workers, one of whom works directly for Norte Energia and two working for companies contracted by Norte Energia to provide services.
