The “super-pipeline” planned for distributing gas “from the Caribbean to Patagonia” could have disastrous effects, says Roberto Smeraldi, coordinator of Friends of the Earth – Brazilian Amazon. Land disputes, expulsion of residents, crossing indigenous territories and protected areas, violence and deforestation are potential consequences of the pipeline, said Smeraldi in a Tierramérica interview. He said widespread public hearings are needed to assess impacts at the local, regional and continental scale, in an “unprecedented process.”

The construction of the gas pipeline — some 8,000 km long and costing 17 billion dollars — was agreed by the presidents of Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela at the Mercosur (Southern Common Market) summit Dec. 6-9 in Montevideo.

Once finalized, “it will have a terrible impact,” said Elisángela Paim, of the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements, and member of a network that tracks megaprojects in the region.