Hidrelétricas, território e desenvolvimento: análise do Território Cantuquiriguaçu, na perspectiva da sustentabilidade

Abstract

The present dissertation deals with the problems arising from the contradiction between Development and Sustainability mediated by the implementation of hydroelectric plants (HP) in Rural Territories from the study of the five main HP - the Salto Caxias, Salto Osório, Salto Santiago, Salto Segredo and Foz do Areia plants - implemented In the Cantuquiriguaçu Territory in the Center-West of Paraná. The study consists of an analysis anchored in the principles and categories of the historical-dialectical materialism and considers the implementation of these dams not as an isolated phenomenon, but with strong interactions with the development model experienced in the region, that is, as an affirmation of the technical-scientific rationality which is imposed against nature and local populations. Capitalist rationality based on conventional science and the practical application of technique and technology also parallels other economic activities in the area, such as agriculture and livestock, generating new contradictions. Together, these activities have an intense impact on the local socioenvironment in favor of the dominant groups, as revealed by the resources of the methodology of pressure, state and response (PSR) employed in the feeding of indicators. These indicators made it possible to confirm the hypothesis that in the current model of the Brazilian energy sector, hydroelectric plants do not ensure development strategies in the perspective of sustainability in the local and even national scale. The confirmation of the hypothesis referring to hydroelectric plants in the Cantuquiriguaçu Territory does not, however, exempt other economic activities in the Territory, since they follow the same model and contribute to the worsening of the low human development indexes indicated by the same indicators. In addition to the PSR methodology, documentary research was used in which the development plans, public policies, socioeconomic diagnoses and actions of social movements, among others, were consulted and analyzed, in addition to bibliographic research. The results obtained allow us to conclude that as a historical process this model has been generating its own overcoming whose embryo consists of the popular forces and the responses that they have been building in partnership with, or apart from governmental action. The significant number of families encamped and settled, the strong performance of socio-territorial movements such as MST, MPA and MAB, as well as transformative actions such as the conquest of UFFS and effective participation in the elaboration of public policies form the materiality of strengthening this contradiction that can shift the course of development towards sustainability.