Indigenous people occupied this Thursday (22) the port of Cargill in Santarém (PA) against the privatization of the Tapajós, Madeira and Tocantins rivers. The occupation aims to denounce irregularities in the dredging process that is progressing without licensing and without consulting these people. The Lula government's decision to include these rivers in the PND shows how neoliberalism was established in Brazil, subordinating politics to the interests of capital, treating the environment and indigenous life as merchandise.Decree 12,600/2025 formalized the inclusion of more than 3,000 kilometers of Amazon rivers in the privatization program, 250 km of which are Tapajós. The official justification is to expand logistics and reduce costs to transport commodities from the Midwest to ports in the North. This model follows the logic that the sale of public assets is often justified by a discourse of efficiency; but it results in the loss of sovereignty and the concentration of wealth. The Tapajós waterways will mainly serve agribusiness giants such as Cargill and Bunge, which already operate in the region, consolidating Arco Norte, a logistics corridor focused on exports. The privatization process violates ILO Convention 169, which guarantees the right to prior, free and informed consultation. Indigenous leaders denounce the authoritarian imposition of the project, highlighting that the river is not a simple logistical route, but living territorya source of identity, culture and survival for their communities. This institutionalized violation shows how privatization policies often ignore the interests of most vulnerable populations in the name of a supposed economic rationality. As Alessandra Munduruku tells us: "This waterway is not for us, it is for soybeans, it is for the major global transport companies. What kind of development is this without the participation of riverside dwellers, fishermen, indigenous people?" The government's contradictions are evident. Internationally, it makes an environmentalist speech, but in practice it acts with predatory policies and intensifies the extractive model; promises to protect indigenous peoples, but does not carry out prior consultation; uses the rhetoric of national sovereignty, but delivers strategic resources to multinationals. The consequences are devastating: dredging threatens ecosystems and fish breeding areas; increased traffic will cause more pollution, affecting food sovereignty and cultural practices. This scenario reflects a future where exchange value exceeds use value, and common goods become a source of accumulation for a few. As Auricélia Arapiun warns, "receiving news like this from those who should protect our rivers (...) is, for us, indigenous peoples who survive and depend on the Amazon, a blow, a betrayal." The impacts are multiple: alteration of the riverbed, destruction of habitats and pollution; loss of access to the river for populations that have always lived there, restrictions on fishing and rural exodus; disruption of ancestral relationships and loss of traditional knowledge; concentration of benefits in corporations and precariousness of the local economy. Faced with so many threats, indigenous peoples occupy Cargill and echo: Tapajós is not for sale! Columns Receive a selection of Folha columns in your email LINK PRESENT: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access seven free accesses from any link per day. Just click the blue F below.