By Giovanni Galvez

Staff Writer

  On Jan. 1, Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil, officially took to office after winning the election on October 28, 2018. During his campaign for president, Bolsonaro promised that the nation of Brazil would continue the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in order to create land for cattle pastures, soybean farms, and housing complexes. This put many environmental scientists on high alert.

  “It’s nearly impossible to overstate the importance of the Amazon rainforest to the planet’s living condition,” stated Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist at the University of São Paulo. “[Bolsonaro] would be much worse for Brazil than Trump in the United States.”

  Because Brazil is home to 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, which produces 20 percent of the world’s oxygen, scientists believe the deforestation of the forest will hasten global climate change, damaging South America’s climate and disrupting its rainfall cycle first.

  For Bolsonaro, it is not a matter of whether he will or will not go forward with his operations, but if he will be able to get through Amazon Region Protected Areas, Brazil’s rainforest protection, supervision, and conservation initiative. According to National Geographic reports, Bolsonaro has announced his intentions to take over the land of Javari Valley indigenous people by loosening these rainforest protections and weakening FUNAI, the Brazilian governmental body responsible for carrying out policies relating to indigenous people.

  “If what he has promised comes to pass, there will be chaos and upheaval in the Amazon,” Javari native Beto Marubo explained. “Bolsonaro will suspend all processes of demarcation of indigenous lands and change the constitutional status of FUNAI  – from an organization defending indigenous rights to an institution subordinated to agricultural interests.”

  Before the election of Bolsonaro into office, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change sought Brazil to host the Climate Conference, a major United Nations summit seeking to address global climate change. Shortly after Bolsonaro won the election, France 24 reported that the foreign ministry was withdrawing Brazil’s candidacy to host, citing financial issues.

  Amazon Watch, a nonprofit organization seeking to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin, has announced its plans to partner with Brazil’s National Indigenous Movement (Mobilização Nacional Indígena) and other local organizations to resist Bolsonaro.

   “In such times of crisis we must pull together to stave off the onslaught of destructive government and industry,” states Christian Poirier of Amazon Watch. “As we enter a precarious New Year we must take note: our collective future depends on unified and successful resistance.”