Altamira: how a quiet Amazonian town became Brazil’s murder capital

On Monday, a prison riot in the city of Altamira, in the northern state of Pará, resulted in the deaths of at least 58 people. Just 20 years ago, such unrest and violence would have been unthinkable in Altamira, but the city has undergone one of the most shocking descents of any of the world’s municipalities.

Altamira is a peculiar place. It is the largest municipality in Brazil by area, spreading over 160,000 square kilometers, which makes it bigger than Greece. It serves as the gateway to the Xingu River—one of the main tributaries to the Amazon—and it is a crucial point on the Trans-Amazonian highway, which cuts directly across the world’s biggest tropical rainforest.

Crucially, it is also home to the Belo Monte Dam, a massive hydroelectric complex under construction in the “big bend” of the lower Xingu River. Currently running with an installed capacity of 8,176 Mega Watts, it will become the world’s fourth-largest dam once fully completed.

While the undertaking put Altamira on the map for the first time, the city’s descent into lawlessness and violence is closely tied to the origins of Belo Monte.

From idyllic to infernal

In 2000, Altamira had an estimated population of 77,000 and crime rates comparable to Brazil’s safest cities. A murder rate of only 9.1 per 100,000 people saw it...