Thy Will Be Done
Page 92
Roads to Resources
Source: Shelton H. Davis, Victims of the Miracle.
North American companies staked their claims immediately.24 But the most dramatic arrival in the area was New York’s mysterious billionaire, Daniel K. Ludwig.
LUDWIG’S WILD KINGDOM
Before long, the world would be stunned by reports of the world’s biggest lumbering operation, the world’s largest rice paddy, some of the world’s richest kaolin and bauxite mines, and even a floating sawmill towed overseas from Japan. Only later did it hear of vast deforestation of the rain forest, strip-mining, ecological disaster, and slave labor. And never—until Jerry Shields’s 1986 book, The Invisible Billionaire—did the world learn of the Rockefeller banks and allies behind Daniel K. Ludwig.
“Do come to our country, Mr. Ludwig,” General Castelo Branco greeted the billionaire when he accepted Roberto Campos’s invitation to visit Brasília in 1966. “These days, Brazil is a safe country!”25
Ludwig was no stranger to Castelo Branco. He had been buying land in the Jari River Valley north of the Amazon, in Amapá state, since just before the 1964 coup. At that time, President João Goulart’s minister of war, Henrique Lott, sent Castelo Branco to Belém to investigate rumors of a mysterious American who was buying up land. Those times were dangerous for American holdings in Brazil because of nationalist challenges from both the Left and Right. Even after the coup removed the Left from positions of power, the Right, led by Governor Carlos Lacerda, were still strong. Ludwig lay low.
Three years later, with the blessing of President Castelo Branco, Ludwig bought a 4,560-square-mile tract along the Jari and Parú rivers. This purchase raised his total holding to some 3.7 million acres. Complicating the identity of his ownership were “170 land titles of various types, acquired from 52 different sellers.”26
The next year Ludwig’s Universe Tankships quietly bought a small sixty-year-old exporting firm specializing in rain-forest products—rubber, nuts, and hides—along the Jari. He renamed it Jari Forestry and Ranching, Ltd., with the goal of using a projected pulp shortage to corner the world’s paper market.
Then Ludwig moved in his first Caterpillar tractors, toppling the rain forest and planting seeds of two fast-growing trees, the Gmelina arborea from Africa (which can grow sixteen feet in less than a year) and the Honduran Pinus carybea, projected as a suitable replacement for the depleted soils left behind after the African tree was harvested. By 1970, hundreds of mostly uneducated northeasterners, rounded up by tough subcontractors, had arrived to work on the estate and live at Ludwig’s self-contained small city, Dourado, named after his first manager, Rodolfo Dourado.
He might just as well have named the Jari project after his major financial backers: David Rockefeller’s Chase Manhattan Bank and other Rockefeller-allied banks that had long been underwriters of Ludwig’s corporate expansion.27 In the mid-1960s, a boom in tanker profits brought about by the Vietnam War swelled Ludwig’s liquid capital resources, making him a billionaire by 1969. After the Brazilian military’s “supercoup” in 1968, he began pouring money into the Amazon. His plan: to turn his 3.7 million-acre jungle kingdom into a world-class lumbering operation. The Amazon rain forest, although dense, contains far too many different species of trees—more than 300 in a single acre—to make lumbering commercially feasible. So Ludwig decided to solve the problem by denuding 189,000 acres of forest, an area ten times the size of Manhattan, and replanting them with his African and Honduran trees. Soon crews driving giant Caterpillar “jungle crushers”—imported at $250,000 apiece—were smashing down trees with abandon.
As his kingdom took shape, partly financed by World Bank loans and eventually requiring more loans from Chase Manhattan, Ludwig’s dreams expanded: a 120,000-head herd of hump-backed cattle, imported from India, and a $25 million meat-processing plant; the world’s largest rice paddy (overseen by former agronomists from the Rockefeller-funded International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines); and mining rights along the Trombetas River in neighboring Pará.
Ludwig’s mining venture was the result of the military regime’s National Integration Plan for a deep-draught port on the Trombetas River near the bauxite deposits. The bauxite had been discovered in 1962 by ALCAN. After the coup, Ludwig had vied with ALCAN and ALCOA over overlapping requests for concessions to the military regime. But Albuquerque Lima, then interior minister, had refused to grant concessions to foreign companies for more than 500 hectares per plot. In 1968, under pressure from the pro-U.S. wing of the military, he doubled this limitation to 1,000 hectares, which still would have left enough for Brazilian companies. But Ludwig, ALCOA, and ALCAN hoped for more. Albuquerque Lima’s fall from power in 1969 granted their wish: In 1970, the Médici regime raised the limit to 10,000 hectares, or 24,700 acres per plot, far beyond the means of almost all Brazilian investors, effectively giving the largest American and Brazilian companies a monopoly.
The following year Ludwig visited the governor of Pará and walked away with approved plans for both processing and mining bauxite. His plan included a city between the Trombetas valley and his Jari headquarters, Monte Dourado, and an aluminum-processing plant capable of turning out 250,000 tons of aluminum bars per year. Both would be powered by a 500,000-kilowatt dam across a tributary of the Trombetas. To make the Amazon dream even more vivid, Ludwig also located one of the world’s largest deposits (an estimated 50 million metric tons) of kaolin, a mineral used to make fine china and high-quality paper. By 1972, Jari was strip-mining and exporting 5,000 tons of kaolin, worth as much as $70 a ton on the world market. That was the year Ludwig felt enough confidence in his Amazon operations to borrow $150 million from David Rockefeller’s Chase Manhattan Bank.28 By 1977, he would be back for more, Chase rounding up a syndicate that lent him another $400 million.
Indians and the Amazon Mining Frontier
Backed by a $400 million World Bank loan in 1972, Brazil’s military dictatorship built highways that opened the Brazilian Amazon, including Indian lands, to unprecedented penetration by mining companies during the 1970s. A government-owned exploration company, Cia. de Pesquisas de Recursos Minerais (CPRM), working with the U.S. Geological Survey under a contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development, used Brazilian tax revenues to employ more than 500 technicians to absorb much of the initial costs of twenty-one mineral exploration projects in the Amazon that CPRM was involved in by 1973.
Sources: Shelton H. Davis, Victims of the Miracle, pp. 94–95; Shelton H. Davis and Robert O. Mathews, The Geological Imperative, p. 34; “CPRM: A Catalyst in Brazilian Exploration Programs,” Engineering and Mining Journal, November 1975, pp. 169–71.
Multinational mining projects in the Amazon Basin:
A Amazonia Mineração (iron ore, Serra dos Carajas); $3 billion (American) project of U.S. Steel Corporation and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce to begin in 1980.
B Mineração Rio do Norte (bauxite, Trombetas River): $260 million project of Alcan Aluminum Company and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce to begin in 1977.
C Industria e Comercio de Minerios (manganese, Serra do Navio): large manganese mining and processing project of Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Cia. Auxiliar de Empresas Mineração began in 1957.
Mineral exploration projects carried out by CPRM:
Finished projects
1. Morro da Fumaça (fluorite)
3. Serra da Gangalha (diamonds)
5. Santa Fé (nickel)
6. Carmopolis (potassium, rock salt)
7. Transamazonica
9. Bagé (copper)
10. Poços de Caldas (molybdenum)
11. Paragominas (bauxite)
12. Serra do Mel (molybdenum)
14. Rio Capim (kaolin)
15. Plat. Continental (rock salt, potassium, sulphur)
16. Montalvania (silver, zinc, lead, fluorite)
17. Morro do Serrote (phosphate)
18. Rio Jamanxim (silver, zinc, copper, lead)
19. Xique Xi
que (lead)
21. Brasileia (copper)
22. Cerro Azul (niobium)
23. Morro Redondo (bauxite)
26. Sacaiba (chrome)
28. Aimores (titanium)
30. Rio Falsino (copper)
31. Itaparica (limestone)
33. Alterosa (limestone, beryllium)
35. Paraúna (phosphate)
37. Massape (vermiculite)
39. Araçás (coal)
46. Corumbá (iron)
Projects under way
2. Morro do Engenho (nickel)
13. Andorinha (chrome)
24. Arapoema (nickel, copper)
25. São Felix do Xingu (lead)
29. Catalão (chrome)
32. Chaminés Alcalinas (phosphate, diamonds, titanium, niobium)
34. Januaria-Itacarambi (vanadium, silver, lead)
36. Curaçá (copper)
38. Aprazivel (copper)
40. Itamaguari (gypsum)
42. Canadá (copper)
44. Gradaus (iron)
48. Patos de Minas (phosphate)
Projects awaiting a decision from DNPM
27. Orleães (coal)
41. Ararangua (coal)
43. Tombador (syenite)
45. Santa Barbara (copper, chrome)
49. Bom Jardim (lead, zinc)
50. Ita (silver)
51. Ipirá (chrome)
52. Pimenteiras (phosphate)
53. Candiota (coal)
54. Coite (copper)
55. Três Ranchos (niobium)
56. Ouvidor (niobium)
57. Rio Jutai (lignite, peat, saprolite)
58. llheus (phosphate)
59. Barra do Mendes (nickel)
60. Aveiro (limestone)
61. Dianópolis (zinc)
62. Irui-Butia (lignite)
63. Presidente Hermes (iron)
64. São Cristovão (phosphate, limestone, gypsum)
65. Propníá (phosphate)
66. Uaupás (titanium)
67. Tapuruquara (titanium)
1975 projects financed through CPRM
68. Mineração Angelim, S.A. (cassiterite)
69. Concisa—Construção Civil e Industrial Ltda. (cassiterite)
70. Progresso da Rondônia Mineração (cassiterite)
71. Tin Brasil Mineração Ltda. (cassiterite)
72. Mineração Aracazeiros Ltda. (cassiterite)
73. Mineração Rio das Garças Ltda. (cassiterite)
74. Mineração Amarante (scheelite)
75. Mineração Tijuca Ltda. (scheelite)
76. Mineração Acquarius (scheelite)
77. Zangarelhas Mineração Ltda. (scheelite)
78. Mineração Nordeste do Brasil Ltda. (scheelite)
79. Camita, S.A. (rock salt)
80. Serrasa—Serra do Ramalho Mineração Ltda. (fluorite)
81. Operadora de Equipamentos, S.A. (chromite)
82. Emp. Min. Imarui e Salomão Mineração Ltda. (fluorite)
83. Leprovost e Cia. (gold)
84. Mineração Morretes (gold)
85. Minas del Rei D. Pedro, S.A. (gold)
86. Mineração Morro Velho, S.A. (gold)
87. Eneel (nickel)
88. C.R. Almeida, S.A. (ilmenite)
89. Somicol, S.A. (manganese)
90. Cia. Bozano Simonsen (iron)
Brazil Indian Groups and Culture Areas
Source: Walter Dostal, ed., The Situation of the Indian in South America., pp. 434–42, as cited in Shelton H. Davis, Victims of the Miracle, pp. 8–9.
1. Amaneyé
2. Anambe
3. Aparaí (Apalaí)
4. Apiaká
5. Apinayé
6. Apurinã (Ipuriná)
7. Arara
8. Arikapú
9. Aripaktsá
10. Asuriní
11. Awake
12. Awéti
13. Bakairí
14. Baníwa
15. Beiço-de-Pau
16. Borôro
17. Canela
18. Cintas Largas (Cinta-Larga)
19. Deni (Daní)
20. Diarrói
21. Fulniô
22. Galibí
23. Gavião
24. Gorotíre
25. Guaja
26. Guajajàra
27. Guaraní
28. Guato
29. Gueren
30. lrantxe
31. Jamamadí
32. Jamináwa
33. Jaruára
34. Júma
35. Jurúna
36. Kadiwéu (Cadureo)
37. Kaimbé
38. Kaingáng
39. Kalapálo
40. Kamayurá
41. Kambiwá
42. Kámpa (Kampá, Campa)
43. Karajá (Carajá)
44. Karipúna
45. Karitiâ
46. Katukína
47. Kawahib
48. Kaxararí
49. Kaxináwa (Kaxanáwa, Cashinua)
50. Kayabí
51. Kirirí
52. Kobéwa
53. Kokraimoro
54. Krahó
55. Krikatí
56. Kréen-Akaróre
57. Kubén-Kran-Kegn
58. Kuikúru
59. Kulína
60. Kuruáya
61. Makú
62. Makuxí
63. Marúbo
64. Matipuhy
65. Mawé (Sataré)
66. Maxakalí
67. Mayongóng
68. Mayoruna
69. Mehináku
70. Menkranotire
71. Morerébi
72. Mudjetíre
73. Mundurukú
74. Mura
75. Nambikuára
76. Numbiaí
77. Pakahanova (Uòmo, Jaru)
78. Palikúr
79. Pankarare
80. Pankararú
81. Parakanán
82. Paresí
83. Parukotó-Xarúma
84. Pataxó
85. Paumarí
86. Piro
87. Potiguára
88. Poyanáwa
89. Puruborá
90. Suyá (Suiá)
91. Tapirapé
92. Tariána
93. Tembé
94. Têrena
95. Tiriyo-Pianokoto
96. Trumái
97. Tukána (Tukano)
98. Tukúna (Ticúna)
99. Tupari
100. Tuxá
101. Txikão
102. Txukahamēi (Txukahamaē)
103. Uamué (Aticum)
104. Urubú (Urubús-Kaapor)
105. Urupá
106. Wapitxana
107. Waríkyana
108. Waurá
109. Wayâna
110. Xavante (Chavante, Shavante)
111. Xerénte (Sherente)
112. Xetá(Aré)
113. Xikrín
114. Xokléng (Botocudos, Aweikoma)
115. Xukurú
116. Xukurú-Karirí
117. Yanomami (Yanomamö)
118. Yawalapiti
Ludwig, of course, was not alone in sharing the Rockefellers’ dreams for Brazil. Also prominent was the Antunes family. The Antuneses were advisers to Chase’s Brazilian subsidiary and partners with Ludwig and Hanna Mining in Minas Gerais’s huge iron deposit. The clan also had been getting technical assistance from the IBEC Research Institute since the early 1960s to analyze soil prospects for an Amazonian colonization project in Amapá near the manganese mine they operated jointly as ICOMI with Bethlehem Steel. In fact, the Antunes Foundation had replaced the Rockefellers’ American International Association for Economic and Social Development (AIA) in 1967 as a major philanthropic conduit for research on development in the Amazonian frontier. The research included “crop and livestock production and exploring future possibilities of fisheries, forestry and small business to service the [Antunes
manganese] mining*enterprises organized under ICOMI,” by 1972 the twenty-second-largest corporation in Brazil.29 Apparently, the fact that 49 percent of ICOMI’s stock was held by Bethlehem Steel, a company with long-standing ties to James Stillman Rockefeller’s First National City Bank, did not discourage Nelson’s wing of the Rockefellers from pursuing an alliance with Antunes. The potential for profit and influence over Brazil’s future required partnerships with Brazilian families who opposed the nationalist current represented by Albuquerque Lima.
Accordingly, Antunes was brought on to the board of the Brazilian Investment Bank (BIB), the investment bank set up by IBEC, the Rockefellers’ Walther Moreira Salles, and Deltec Banking, just as Juracy Magalhães, former ambassador to the United States and foreign minister in the Castelo Branco regime, was made a director of Crescinco’s firm in Anápolis near Brasília, Companhia City de Desenvolvimento, now controlled by BIB.
Other powerful Brazilians on BIB’s board completed the portrait of the Rockefeller alliance in South America’s largest country:
*Paulo Fontainha Geyer, president of Refinaria e Exploracão de Petróleo União, the oil firm controlled by Moreira Salles that had its ambition to exploit Bolivia’s Santa Cruz oil thwarted when the Goulart government refused to allow União’s subsidiary to go to its shareholders for more capital.30 Now prospects looked better, the firm having entered into a $100 million joint venture with its crude-oil supplier, Gulf Oil, to produce chemicals used in fertilizers.
*Paulo Reis de Magalhães, head of Industrias Quimicas e Texteis, S.A., and Dunlop do Brasil, a tire manufacturer with rubber plantations in Bahia and an old Crescinco investment. He was later president of the Brazilian subsidiary of Champion International, one of the largest paper manufacturers in the world and a major spoiler of the Amazon rain forest.
*Antonio Callotti, president of Light Companies of Brazil, the latest name for the Brazilian Traction Light and Power Company. Gallotti was also vice president of Light’s parent company, Brascan, Ltd., an investment firm involved in both Brazil and Canada (hence, its name) and controlled 75 percent by Canadian investors and 25 percent by U.S. investors, including a group represented by a Rockefeller ally, J. Peter Grace, of W. R. Grace & Company.