The article uses the debate surrounding creation of the Instituto Internacional da Hiléia Amazônica (International Institute of the Hylean Amazon - IIHA) as a point of departure for analyzing the topic of development. We first address post-World War II relations between science and development. Next, we examine the Brazilian government's initiatives in the Amazon during the 1940s and how the IIHA project was received. Lastly, we analyze the controversies ignited in Brazil by Unesco's plan. The IIHA project was a catalyst of the development debate in post-World War II Brazil. The discussions then sparked in Brazil and the project's denouement solidified a development model for the Amazon that even today underpins initiatives taken in the region.
Amazon; Instituto Internacional da Hiléia Amazônica; development; post-World War II; Brazilian Congress