Brazilian native Indians took 100 workers hostage on Sunday at a construction site for a hydroelectric plant in the southern Amazon region, reports.
The Indians–as many as 400 from several different tribes and armed with bows and arrows–confined the workers to their barracks, claiming the construction sits atop an ancient burial site. No injuries were reported.
The Indians demanded that the government help negotiate a deal with the construction company, which was not available for comment but has been in touch with a local administrator with the government's agency of indigenous affairs. The aim was to define a community development program for the local native Indians.
The Dardanelos dam on the Aripuana river is one of nearly a dozen that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration has been promoting in the Amazon region.
–Michael Webster