Marina Silva, Brazil's former environment minister, has warned that a presidency under Flávio Bolsonaro would aim to complete the "perverse project" of rainforest destruction initiated by his father, Jair Bolsonaro.
Jair Bolsonaro's 2019-2022 presidency saw Brazil's environment and Indigenous protection agencies weakened, leading to increased deforestation and violence in the Amazon. Silva, who served as environment minister until April under the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stated that a second Bolsonaro presidency would be disastrous for the ecosystem, its inhabitants, and the climate crisis.
Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, is currently the favourite to defeat the incumbent Lula, 80, in the second round of the presidential election scheduled for 25 October. Bolsonaro beat Lula by over 2 million votes in the first round, amidst a rise in anti-incumbency and anti-left sentiment.
Silva believes that a Flávio Bolsonaro administration would encourage illegal mining, the invasion of Indigenous lands, and violence against Indigenous and Quilombola communities. She also expressed concern that aggressive resource extraction could be intensified by Donald Trump's influence in Latin America.
Under Lula's administration, Amazon deforestation has reportedly fallen by nearly 50%, with an estimated 2,600 sq km lost this year, compared to almost 11,600 sq km during Jair Bolsonaro's final year in office. Silva fears these achievements are now in jeopardy.