Destruction of Amazon Rainforest Accelerates as Elections Loom in Brazil

Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far right president, is launching a reelection bid and currently trailing in the polls behind former president and liberal rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro and conservative lawmakers have worked to slash environmental protections and promote development of the Amazon rainforest, where deforestation appears to be accelerating as Brazil prepares for elections in October. Deforestation is a major cause of climate change and a threat to Indigenous people who are organizing to resist land grabs and toxic pollution from illegal mines. To learn more, Truthout’s Mike Ludwig interviewed Romulo Batista, a Brazilian environmental activist based in Manaus, a Brazilian city nestled in the Amazon rainforest. Music by Dan Mason.