Update: Thanks to your support, Vale has won the title of World's Worst Corporation for the 2012 Public Eye Award!
A vote for Vale is a vote against the Belo Monte Dam
Vale – the Brazilian mining company present in 38 countries and the largest iron-ore mining corporation in the world – is one of six finalists for the Public Eye Award, which annually holds a public vote to elect the worst corporation in the world. The winner is announced during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It is the first time that a Brazilian company is up for the award.
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Vote Now for Vale as 2011's Worst Corporation!
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Then, spread the word on Facebook and Twitter:
Vale was nominated for the 2012 Public Eye Award by the International Network of People Affected by Vale through the Brazilian organization Justiça nos Trilhos, located in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, in partnership with International Rivers and Amazon Watch. The company's nomination is based on the many environmental, social and labor impacts caused by the corporation in Brazil and worldwide in the last decade.
What's more, the company's entry in mid-2010 into the Norte Energia S.A. consortium, responsible for building the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon, was considered by the award's organizers – Greenpeace Switzerland and Berne Declaration – to be the determining factor for Vale's inclusion in the list of six finalists in the Public Eye this year.
Vale owns a 9% stake in the consortium, which will be responsible for the forced displacement of about 20,000 people, directly and indirectly impacting 14 indigenous communities of the Xingu basin, flooding 668 sq km of land, and drying out 100 kilometers of the Big Bend on the Xingu, home to three indigenous tribes.
Visit the website of our partners Justiça nos Trilhos for a summary of some of the social, environmental and labor impacts on the traditional peoples by various enterprises of Vale in Brazil and worldwide.
Vote for Vale as 2011's worst corporation on the official site of the 2012 Public Eye Award. Voting closes on January 26, 2012.
For more information in Brazil, contact:
- Danilo Chammas, Justiça nos Trilhos (Justice on the Rails): +55 (99) 8844-2331
- Verena Glass, Movimento Xingu Vivo Para Sempre (Xingu Forever Alive Movement): +55 (11) 9853-9950
More information
- Read the International Open Letter of People Affected by Vale
- Read a Human Rights Impact Assessment Report on Vale's activities
- Download a Dossiê on Vale's Impacts and Rights Violations across the world (Portuguese)
- Read Zachary Hurwitz's blog on Vale: Mining Giant Joins Belo Monte Dam
- Visit the Movimento Xingu Vivo Para Sempre, the coalition of social movements and NGOs fighting Belo Monte Dam
- Visit Justiça nos Trilhos, an organization representing people affected by Vale's iron mining in Brazil
- Jan 11, 2012: more than 700 families protesting against VALE in Mozambique: forced displacement and broken promises
- Even Michael Moore disapproves of Vale's behavior
- Fair Deal Now (site for families and communities affected by Vale)
