Brazil’s election and the battle for the Amazon

Brazil’s election and the battle for the Amazon – podcast

Our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips,heads to Roraima to hear what’s at stake for the rainforest and the communities that live there in the Brazilian presidential runoff on Sunday. Send your comments and questions to tif.questions@theguardian.com

For the Amazon and the communities who live there, the stakes in Sunday’s Brazilian presidential election runoff could scarcely be higher.

Our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillipsheads to Roraima, the country’s most northern state, to hear from voters, preachers and politicians in a region that heavily backed Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round.

He finds them all hopeful that the far-right candidate will bring back the mining that his father Jair so heartily encouraged when in power in an administration that oversaw the felling of 11m acres (4.5m hectares) of rainforest.

Tom also meets Indigenous activists determined to fight back even if the Bolsonaros take power again.

Helen Pidd asks what it will all mean, not only for Brazil but also for the climate crisis more broadly.

Source: www.theguardian.com