Heineken, Brazil, and the history of the human race

In the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, hundreds of small municipalities are fighting tooth and nail to woo major brewer Heineken, after its plans for a mega factory in Greater Belo Horizonte were scrapped amid environmental — and archeological — concerns.

In December 2020, Heineken announced it would build a new factory in Pedro Leopoldo, to the north of the Minas Gerais state capital of Belo Horizonte. The undertaking was set to cost BRL 1.8 billion (USD 320 million), with the finished facility being capable of producing some 760 million liters of beer per year — supplying the entire Southeast region. Behind Ambev, Heineken is the largest brewer in Brazil.

The factory plans stuttered, however, amid complaints that the construction would pose a threat to the history of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and the entire world. The proposed site for the facility was adjacent to the archeological site where the fossilized skull of Luzia was discovered — the oldest human fossil in the Americas, the finding of which revolutionized the theory of our planet’s population.

Luzia was discovered in...