Transnational corporations and minig rent in the amazon: current conditions and contradictions

Abstract

This article employs the Marxist theoretical analysis of ground rent, focusing upon the case of mining and, in particular, the role of transnational capital operating in the Eastern section of the Brazilian Amazon. In addition to carrying out a critical analysis of such operations, the role of the State and identifying the main aspects and contradictions of these TNCs, it is argued that the two forms of rent, both differential and absolute, constitute the basis of surplus profi ts for such fi rms. This paper is centered on an historical analysis of three major mining companies operating in this sector in the Amazon, and thus constitutes the benchmark for our analysis: Vale, ICOMI and Rio do Norte Mining