Brazilian power transmission towers tumble in suspected vandalism act

Photo: Jose Luis Stephens/Shutterstock

A day after far-right radicals stormed and ransacked government buildings in Brasília, two energy towers collapsed. One of them belongs to Eletrobras’s Furnas generation and transmission system, and links the Itaipu hydroelectric plant, on the border with Paraguay, to the national grid. Three other towers nearby were damaged.

The other tower supposedly attacked is located between the Samuel plant and the city of Ariquemes, both in the northern state of Rondônia.

The info comes from the daily bulletin of the ONS, Brazil’s national grid operator. Another report by energy regulatory agency Aneel mentions “signs of vandalism” in the towers as “no adverse weather conditions were identified that could have caused the towers to fall.” The ONS set up, a monitoring cabinet to monitor the situation and react to any emergency.

Since the attacks in Brasília, far-right groups on social media have called upon supporters to continue trying to disrupt the country, electing highways and refineries as their principal targets.

Between Sunday and Monday, pro-Bolsonaro terrorist groups tried to block the entry and exit of trucks from Petrobras refineries in four Brazilian states — but local police forces neutralized the acts quickly.

Aneel informed that it carried out “a routine follow-up” was created on Monday “to verify and update information about any events in the assets and facilities of the Mines and Energy Ministry.”

Fabiane Ziolla Menezes

Former editor-in-chief of LABS (Latin America Business Stories), Fabiane has more than 15 years of experience reporting on business, finance, innovation, and cities in Brazil. The latter recently took her back to the classroom and made her a Master in Urban Management from PUCPR. At TBR, she keeps an eye on economic policy, game-changing businesses, and people driving innovation in Latin America.