On Sunday, October 2, Brazil went to the polls in a historic election, key not only for upholding the country’s young democracy, but for the future of life on our planet. Votes were cast for the country’s presidency as well as for congressional and state leadership. A deeply polarized country chose between the diametrically opposed visions of Jair Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva, while the world closely watched the polls for a decision that represents the future of the Amazon rainforest and of global climate stability.
While the presidential contest forced a runoff vote scheduled for the end of the month, the election saw the historic victory of members of Brazil’s Indigenous “headdress” caucus in São Paulo and the state of Minas Gerais, in a momentous advance for Indigenous representation in the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The victories of Sonia Guajajara and Célia Xakriabá – central leaders of Brazil’s Indigenous movement – bring much-needed political representation to Indigenous peoples whose rights and lands have been ruthlessly targeted by the Bolsonaro regime.
The wins come at a critical moment as the Amazon rainforest reaches a tipping point, and the voice of powerful and credible leaders is needed to reverse the destructive tide unleashed by Bolsonaro. Sonia and Célia have long fought to uphold Indigenous rights and Brazil’s environmental governance. They will find an ally in Marina Silva, a respected former Environment Minister who was also elected to Brazil’s National Congress.
Sonia Guajajara hails from the Guajarara people from the Brazilian Amazon. She is an activist, environmentalist, and Executive Coordinator of the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB). This year, TIME 100 named her among the world’s Most Influential People. During her congressional campaign, she upheld the importance of Indigenous land demarcation while stressing that Brazil’s agribusiness sector represents one of the most destructive forces on Brazilian ecosystems, and she denounced the catastrophic impacts of illegal gold mining on native territories.
“We cannot accept how mining pollutes rivers with mercury, destroys the jungle, destroys fisheries, kills the Yanomami and Munduruku peoples, and exploits its workers. Gold and diamonds should not be stained with Indigenous blood,” she said.
Célia Xakriabá is a teacher, poet, and activist from the Xakriabá people in the Cerrado biome of Brazil. She is one of the founders of the National Association of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA) and a leading member of the Indigenous women’s movement in Brazil. She also helped to create the “Reforesting Minds” movement based on Indigenous ancestry and wisdom which advocates for a change in consciousness among the global public about planetary preservation.
“I will legislate in the National Congress with the commitment to the environment, to the territory, and the call of the land, which brought me here,” Célia affirmed. “This election is for the planet. [My state] will be proud to ‘womanize’, ‘reforest’, and ‘Indigenize’ politics with cultural projects. It’s going to be a mandate of resistance. It’s going to be a mandate of struggle.”
Lula wins the first round but heads to a runoff with Bolsonaro as Brazil’s Congress lurches to the right
While the creation of a “headdress caucus” was cause for celebration, other notable results from Sunday’s election were alarming signs for democracy, human rights, and environmental protections in Latin America’s most populous country. Lula failed to win the election outright and Bolsonaro garnered far more votes than projected by polling, leading to a pivotal runoff vote scheduled for October 30. Voters will decide then whether a progressive will return to the helm of the world’s fourth-largest democracy and home of the majority of the Amazon or the extreme right-wing incumbent will remain in office, in a death sentence for the rainforest.
Meanwhile, key Bolsonaro allies were elected to Brazil’s Congress, including members of his cabinet, with 19 of the 27 available Senate seats going to extremist candidates. Tereza Cristina, Bolsonaro’s former Agriculture Minister known for her unyielding support for pesticides, and Vice-President Hamilton Mourão, who led the Amazon Council that oversaw record deforestation and fires, were both elected senators.
In the country’s lower house of Congress, President Bolsonaro’s “Liberal Party” increased its share of representation by 30%, jumping from 76 to 99 seats. The Liberal Party has one of the worst environmental records among the country’s many parties, according to two congressional watchdogs. One of the new lawmakers is the villainous former Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, a fierce agribusiness ally who has dismissed climate change as a “useless debate” and was removed from his cabinet post while under investigation for his involvement in an illegal timber trafficking mafia.
The dominance of right-wing, industry-friendly, and anti-environmental forces in Brazilian politics places even more significance on the results of the October 30 presidential runoff. While the ascent of Indigenous voices to Congress is vital, it will be largely symbolic unless Bolsonaro is defeated. The importance of this election for the Amazon and other threatened Brazilian biomes couldn’t be higher.
An election of global significance
Brazil’s territory contains 60% of the Amazon, of which 21% has been destroyed, an area three times greater than the United Kingdom. Today’s deforestation rate is pushing the Amazon to what scientists call a “point of no return,” beyond which the rainforest won’t be able to maintain its own climate and will turn into a dry savanna, emitting more planet-warming greenhouse gasses than it absorbs. This grim scenario is already playing out in heavily deforested parts of the Brazilian Amazon.
Under Bolsonaro’s presidency, the destruction of Brazil’s rainforest reached a record high in the first half of this year. Deforestation rates have increased by nearly 60% during his tenure, reaching a 15-year high, with an area of Amazonian forests larger than Belgium or Massachusetts lost in three years. On the campaign trail, Lula has pledged to put a stop to deforestation and illegal mining, leaving analysts to predict a nearly 90 percent drop in forest loss if he’s elected.
Rebuilding environmental governance in Brazil is not possible under Bolsonaro, who has led a very clear process of institutional dismantling and mismanagement in recent years.
The Indigenous movement, Brazilian civil society, and conscientious citizens in favor of life, human rights, and nature will continue to organize for fair and peaceful elections. The world should continue to pay attention. The U.S. Senate has already unanimously declared in a resolution led by Bernie Sanders that it will immediately recognize the results of the polls and break off relations with Brazil if there are signs of a coup.
Regardless of the results of this month’s runoff, Amazon Watch will continue to work alongside our longtime partners in Brazil’s Indigenous movement – and now our allies in the newly-formed congressional “headdress caucus” – to hold those in power accountable and strive for respect for human rights, democratic norms, and the permanent protection of the life-giving Amazon rainforest.
