Since 8:30 this morning, May 19, the ship Arctic Sunrise, belonging to the non-governmental organization for environmental protection, Greenpeace, has been blockading a grain terminal built by the US multinational corporation, Cargill, in the northern Brazilian river port of Santarém.
The activists are protesting the advance of soybean cultivation in the Amazon region and the construction of the terminal without environmental impact studies.
They are surrounded by soybean producers who are threatening to invade the ship. So far the military police have succeeded in averting confrontations.
"We have already received notification from the port authority saying that we have to leave, that we are violating Brazilian laws," says the coordinator of Greenpeace’s Amazon Campaign, Paulo Adário.
"We acknowledge the fact that the police must do its job, but we are doing ours. What must get out of here is this port, which is illegal."
Adário said that the protest began when activists climbed a soybean unloading bridge and extended a banner saying "Out with Cargill."
ABr