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When the first two dams were built, people in Cachuela �Ѳ����ǰ�é and elsewhere along the Bolivian border were not invited to be part of an assessment of the potential risks to those who lived in the area.

Even then, says Montero, word never reached the farmers and fishermen in Cachuela �Ѳ����ǰ�é that there might be problems to come.

Lidia Bani Lopez, 58 and a lifelong resident of Cachuela �Ѳ����ǰ�é, said, “We’re not against progress, but we are against this kind of construction that will do away with our Amazon.”

Federico Cortez Morai, a native of Cachuela �Ѳ����ǰ�é who worked as a construction contractor on the Jirau dam from 2013 to 2016, said he’s hopeful his community will be better equipped to stand up for its rights than it was in the years prior to the Jirau and Santo Antonio dams.

But on the Bolivian side of the border, villages like Cachuela �Ѳ����ǰ�é have received no such support.