Brazilian President Lula da Silva signed Thursday the contracts for the Norte Energia consortium to start construction of a controversial hydroelectric dam in the Amazon basin...Environmental and social organizations oppose the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant [a project of Consórcio Norte Energia], which they believe will have disastrous consequences...in the Amazonian state of Para...Demonstrators issued a letter [addressed at the government] signed by 56 religious, social and environmental organizations including the Roman Catholic Church. The text says the plant will be a “death sentence” for the Xingu River and will displace “thousands of people from their homes.” “International agreements are being violated, like Convention 169 of the World Labour Organization, the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Convention on Biological Diversity,” the letter charges.