Politics

Roraima Voters Await Bolsonaro’s Return Amid Amazon Concerns

By Helen Pidd, Tom Phillips, Ivor Manley, Eli Block, Ross Burns, Sami Kent

In the run‑off of Brazil’s presidential election, the stakes for the Amazon and its residents are extremely high. Tom Phillips, the Latin America correspondent, travels to Roraima, the country’s northernmost state, to speak with voters, preachers and politicians. The region strongly supported Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round, and many hope the far‑right candidate will revive mining projects that his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, promoted during his administration, which saw 11 million acres (4.5 million hectares) of rainforest cut down. Phillips also meets Indigenous activists who are determined to resist if the Bolsonaros win again. Helen Pidd asks what the outcome will mean for Brazil and the broader climate crisis.