Between Rivers and Contradictions

Sino-Brazilian Hydropower and Energy Dependence (2015–2024)

Abstract

This article examines Chinese investments in Brazil’s energy sector through the lenses
of Political Ecology and International Political Economy, adopting a qualitative approach
based on case studies of the São Manoel, Teles Pires, and Tapajós hydropower projects.
The analysis is grounded in the systematic collection and examination of empirical data
on Chinese investments in Brazil, combined with primary institutional and documentary
sources, including reports from CEBC, ANEEL, FIDH, EJAtlas, and the Federal Public
Prosecutor’s Office. The article investigates how megaprojects framed by the discourse
of green transition and South–South cooperation reproduce dynamics of dependence,
territorial dispossession, and environmental injustice. It argues that greenwashing operates
as a geopolitical and rhetorical strategy that legitimizes these ventures, while Indigenous
communities and transnational organizations mobilize resistance against rights violations.
Finally, it contends that an energy transition conducted under the logic of green capitalism
deepens the commodification of nature, underscoring the need for approaches grounded
in environmental justice and territorial sovereignty.