Lula wins and restores hope for the Amazon. But Bolsonarism remains alive

Inàcio Lula da Silva won, albeit by a hair, the Brazilian presidential elections.
 
Three years ago, No Peace Without Justice decided to conduct a campaign to defend the Amazon and the Indigenous Peoples who live there, thanks to the support of the Peretti Foundation. The goal of NPWJ's work is to hold the moral and material perpetrators of the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, which has increased without limits since Jair Bolsonaro came to power, accountable for their acts. For these reasons, we can only rejoice that a fatal era will soon end for the fate of the "green lung" of the world, for its inhabitants and, looking ahead, for large sections of the Brazilian population who have not only seen their living conditions heavily regress but have undergone some of the worst pandemic related health policies in the world.
 
The path that awaits the newly elected president, who announced his intention to participate in this year’s COP 27 in Sharm El Sheik and declared that he wanted to "fight for the goal of zero deforestation in the Amazon", is anything but easy. First of all, he will have to contend with a hostile Parliament, as well as with governors linked to the old regime, unless his victory leads some elected officials to a "change of heart" to support his policy, and then he must deal with his own ideological setting, which is inclined to distrust the "values ​​of the West", to put it mildly, in the face of an international situation that sees autocracies increasingly diverging from democracies. Finally, he must deal with Bolsonarism, which determines, among other things, the attitude of parts of the country that believe they "cannot concede" the victory to the opponent of their candidate, because they feel they are above the law and are endowed with a moral superiority that legitimizes their behavior.
 
Although Jair Bolsonaro did not formally incite protests and roadblocks, as did his mentor Donald Trump, in order not to overly jeopardize his personal, political and judicial future … he made his children do it, fomenting the electorate that thrives on a policy of impunity established in the country that will be difficult to eradicate.
 
This is why No Peace Without Justice intends to continue to follow the evolution of the situation with great attention and to make its contribution to the pursuit of the objectives of its "Amazonia Beyond the Crisis" campaign.
 
The election of Lula is a first, decisive step, before everything else can be completed.
 
 
For further information, please contact Juan Guzman, Amazonia Project Associate (juzman@npwj.org) or Nicola Giovannini, Press & Public Affairs Coordinator on ngiovannini@npwj.org.