A institucionalização da desconfiança em uma relação intersetorial : os estabelecidos e os outsiders no caso do rompimento da barragem de Fundão, em Mariana (MG)

Abstract

On November 5th, 2015, the largest socio-environmental tragedy in Brazil occurred: it collapsed in Mariana, in the state of Minas Gerais, the Fundão dam at the Germano mining complex of Samarco. A dam damaging 50 million cubic meters of tailings from iron ore. Of this waste, 45 million cubic meters were released into the environment, traveling almost 700 km along the Rio Doce basin until reaching the Atlantic Ocean. The toxic mud wave buried the sub-districts of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo, in Mariana, and caused incalculable destruction. In this tragedy, the focus turned on the Renova Foundation, which emerged in 2016, after a Transaction Term and Conduct Adjustment (TTAC). This agreement ratified and signed between the mining company Samarco, Vale, BHP Billiton, the state governments of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo and the federal government, coined terms that envisioned a possible shared governance of the case and conceived a Foundation that, since the beginning, became the main protagonist in the progress of the negotiations and whose actions generate multiple and adverse reactions among the people affected by the mud of tailings and among others involved in this situation. Realizing this complexity, the objective of this dissertation is to investigate the space of negotiation and dialogue in a crime/disaster technological-environmental situation in order to inquire whether the established intersectoral relationship has favored the most affected and victims or companies and organizations responsible for the event. Based on a case study on the rupture of the Fundão dam, with visits to Mariana (MG) and observations noted in a field notebook, it was discovered that mining company Samarco, through the Renova Foundation, seeks to remain at the center of the negotiations and decision making in the search for problem solving. It acts to distance itself from the situation, while, simultaneously, adopts a position of conciliation and continuous attempt to remain close to those affected building relationships with weak ties, which allows it to have access to crucial information and ending up generating an environment governed by the constant feeling of mistrust between the agents involved. In addition, the company and the foundation are self-proclaimed established and act homogeneously, preserving their interests and feeding lies, stigmas and conflicting relationships with those affected, who, in turn, become outsiders in the processes of negotiation.