ABSTRACT
On his first hunger strike in protest against the Sao Francisco river inter-basin transfer project, Dom Luiz Cappio – a bishop of the Catholic Church who lives in a small city on the banks of the Sao Francisco River – was successful in getting an agreement with the Federal Government. When completed the inter-basin scheme would benefit 10 million people outside the Sao Francisco basin that, on average, have a very low income, mostly due to climatic uncertainties. Dom Luiz halted his hunger strike under the Federal Government's commitment to promote a national debate about the project and restore the river basin, essentially through investments on sewage collection and treatment, as well as on the protection of the riverbanks against erosion.
