Brazil runoff: Amazon at stake as Roraima weighs Flávio Bolsonaro and mining

A Guardian podcast reports that Sunday's Brazilian presidential election runoff carries major stakes for the Amazon and the communities who live there. The Guardian's Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, travels to Roraima, Brazil's northernmost state, to hear from voters, preachers and politicians in a region that heavily backed Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round.

Hopes for mining

In Roraima, those voices are hopeful that the far-right candidate will bring back mining, according to the podcast. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, strongly encouraged mining while in power, in an administration that oversaw the felling of 11m acres (4.5m hectares) of rainforest. The report presents the first-round result in the state as a sign of local support for that economic direction.

Indigenous resistance

Phillips also meets Indigenous activists who are determined to fight back even if the Bolsonaros take power again, the podcast says. Their position highlights the tension between the expectations of some local voters and the concerns of communities focused on the forest.

Helen Pidd asks what the runoff will mean not only for Brazil but also for the climate crisis more broadly. The episode considers how the election could affect the Amazon and, in turn, the wider climate debate, without predicting the outcome. The programme does not forecast the result; it explores the competing pressures at play.

The podcast frames the vote as a contest with consequences beyond Brazil's borders. It centres on a northern state where mining hopes, deforestation and Indigenous rights are closely connected, and where residents are weighing what a return of the Bolsonaros to power would mean for their region and the rainforest.

Source: The Guardian World.