Amazon Watch

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Ada Recinos at +1.510.473.7542 or ada@amazonwatch.org

The election today of Jair Bolsonaro to the Brazilian presidency hands the extreme right-wing politician a mandate to enact a series of sweeping changes to the country's political, economic, social, and environmental order.

Responding to the news, Brazil's diverse social movements are mounting resistance to the president's regressive agenda. Thousands of organizations recently united to repudiate his assertion that he "will put an end to all activism in Brazil," while the National Indigenous Movement issued a statement, "In Defense of Democracy and Our Rights." The coming months will prove decisive to the advancement of these two diametrically-opposed visions for Brazil's future.

Amazon Watch Program Director Christian Poirier made the following statement in response to the election results: