ABSTRACT
The need to establish a more equitable social and political system in Brazil is necessary for the achievement of any significant change in development policy. The goals and ideals of the present national government subvert any real “development” for Brazil's poor and marginalized classes. The impacts which current policies are having and will continue to have on the peoples and environments of Amazonia are extreme. The view of Amazonia as a land to be tapped for uses determined by a centralized, authoritarian government effectively relegates Amazonia to being a colony of Brazil, rather than an integral part of the nation. Having discussed the attempts various opposing sectors of society are making to resist current development policies, it is necessary to determine what new, more responsible directions development may follow or, more specifically, the appropriate role for any future developments to be undertaken in Amazonia. Critical to an acceptable development policy are
the benefits to be derived by the people directly affected; and
the maintenance and care for an ecologically stable environment.
