JAIR BOLSONARO will be the next president of Brazil. He has been labelled a fascist and a threat to human rights; The New Yorker called him 鈥溾��.
Soon after his victory at the polls, Bolsonaro announced that he would combine the ministries of environment and agriculture, effectively removing the normal checks and balances that help protect Amazonian forests. The country鈥檚 National Institute for Space Research estimates that deforestation in Brazil could increase by 268 per cent if Bolsonaro鈥檚 policies are all carried out. In the light of this, plus his promise and renege on commitments to reduce deforestation, his presidency is a matter of global concern.
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We join many others in being deeply concerned about what his election will mean for Brazil and the people and forests of the Amazon. Indigenous territories in the Amazon have long acted as a buffer against the expansion of agriculture and logging, as well as preventing the development of mining sites.
We worry that Bolsonaro sees indigenous peoples and their communally held territories, covering 25 per cent of the Amazon, as a barrier to development. He has said that he supports policies to 鈥渆mancipate鈥� them. This reflects his nostalgia for the military dictatorship, and his desire to revive its programme to derecognise collective rights and instead individualise indigenous land rights. This would allow individuals to sell their lands and open them up to 鈥渄evelopment鈥�.
We worry that local people will be killed as a result. Brazil is already one of the worst countries in terms of violence against environmentalists and land defenders. Bolsonaro promises to relax gun control laws while using rhetoric that incites violence towards the opposition. He is adding fuel to the fire of an already volatile scenario.
We worry that Bolsonaro sees civil society organisations as a threat. He has promised a 鈥渃leansing鈥� of left-wing activist groups, and stated that NGOs such as the Landless Workers Movement would be treated as terrorists.
Bolsonaro鈥檚 rise to power is a call to action for the 47 million people who voted against him. As was often said during the campaign, Brazilians must choose love, choose democracy and choose liberty.
International support for grassroots movements and new resistance coalitions is now more important than it has ever been. As indigenous leader Sonia Guajajara has said, 鈥淥ur fight is the mother of all fights, the fight for Mother Earth鈥�.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淣ow the real fight begins鈥�
