Brazilian Space Agency Faces Protesters
Brazilian villagers, descendants of slaves, built a log blockade to prevent workers from expanding the country’s rocket base. An feature story in today’s The Wall Street Journal covers it all, but I’ll give the outlines here.
The Brazilian Space Agency has been expanding their Alcântara launch facility. Nearby inhabitants are not happy. They say it disrupts their way of life…and disturbs the native spirits.
The Space Agency argues that the facility has improved the lives of the villagers, who now have electricity and telephones. Unimpressed, the villagers note that the jobs are all going to Brazilian and Ukrainian scientists—not to them.
The villagers took their case to court to stop expansion of the base. For now, the courts have sided with the villagers. Work on the expansion has stopped.
