Brasilia, Brazil – Today, Brazil’s Supreme Court voted 4-1 to convict former president Jair Bolsonaro and key members of his administration for plotting a coup to overturn democratic rule. This marks the first time in the country’s history that a former head of state has been found guilty of conspiring against Brazilian democracy.
While the trial addresses only the coup conspiracy, it is impossible to ignore the destructive legacy that Bolsonaro left behind for Brazil and the Amazon. During his presidency, he deliberately sabotaged Brazil’s response to COVID-19, costing hundreds of thousands of lives, while promoting an agenda of deregulation that paved the way for rampant deforestation, land invasions, and violence against Indigenous peoples. Even after leaving office, he continues to stoke a dangerous far-right denialism, fueling attacks on science, human rights, and democracy itself.
“The conviction of former president Bolsonaro is a welcome sign for accountability in the Americas. After committing crimes against Brazilian democracy, allowing Bolsonaro to remain free, much less to stand for office, would have condoned impunity and openly encouraged the kind of explosive criminal activity that has gripped the Amazon since his presidency. His arrest offers a welcome reprieve for the Amazon and its peoples by weakening the chance that his destructive agenda will return to the region,” said Christian Poirier, Program Director at Amazon Watch.
Amazon Watch welcomes this historic ruling as a necessary step toward justice. Yet Bolsonaro’s conviction cannot distract us from the urgent need to dismantle the destructive policies and networks that survived his presidency. True justice for the Amazon and its peoples will only be achieved when Brazil fully guarantees Indigenous rights, restores protections for forests and climate, and ensures that no leader can again exploit power to promote impunity, violence, and environmental devastation.
