Chinese investment flood a threat to Brazil's environment
Kamilia Lahrichi considers the impact of Latin American rail link project
The visit of Premier Li Keqiang to Brazil last week has boosted bilateral trade but is likely to further worsen the reputation of Chinese companies for harming the fragile environment in Latin America.
Li inked 35 trade and investment agreements with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff that will see Beijing invest billions in Brazil's decaying infrastructure. This will help build an ambitious 3,500km transcontinental railroad that will ease commodity exports to resource-starved China.
The railway will run from the Brazilian port of Santos on the Atlantic to the Peruvian port of Ilo on the Pacific. It is supposed to be completed in six years.
This project is crucial to the Asian giant as both Brazil and Peru are key suppliers to the Chinese market. Lima sends out copper and gold; Brasilia supplies iron ore and oil. Yet, it is a double-edged sword.
Li and Rousseff signed a declaration on climate change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but they have neglected the major environmental impact the railway is likely to have. The rail network will probably worsen climate change, weaken fragile ecosystems, erode the soil, accelerate deforestation and put the livelihood of indigenous communities at risk.
Environmentalists worry that it will run through protected areas in the Amazon rainforest.
The Brazilian organisation, the Amazonian Network of Geo-Referenced Socio-Environmental Information, pointed out that the railroad would cross the lands of about 600 indigenous and protected communities. It could also spur illegal logging and encourage drug trafficking.