In the midst of my research on Amazonian biodiversity, I learned more about Brazil’s recent president elect, Jair Bolsonaro. Coined “Tropical Trump,” Bolsonaro plans to open the Amazon to widespread infrastructure and agriculture, threatening the biodiversity, oxygen production, water sources, and indigenous land (to name a few) in the Amazon biome. By ceasing to protect the Brazilian Amazon and prohibiting the creation of new indigenous territories, Bolsonaro would destroy the border between natural and artificial life, exposing protected territory to destruction.
Brazil contains the majority of the Amazon. Within this land is 8% of the world’s freshwater supply, 20% of the world’s biodiversity, and 7% of the world’s land mass. Needless to say, the conservation of this area is crucial to protecting the earth from natural catastrophe.
Since 2016, the Workers Party has not ruled Brazil. While they cautiously grappled the border between environmental conservation and economic benefit, their rule resulted in a high crime rate, as well as security threats. Despite deforestation rates dwindling significantly since 2005, the Brazilian population chose national security. The lack of protection under the Worker’s Party bolstered Bolsonaro’s campaign, as he won the election because many Brazilians want to protect their nation’s borders from wealthier countries. Willing to sacrifice environmental health and indigenous rights, Brazilians are choosing national sovereignty and economic power. However, as Bolsonaro’s promises come into fruition and mass destruction takes place, the cultural borders between Brazil and other highly modernized countries will disappear. Industrialized farms will plague the Brazilian amazon, rather than indigenous territories and wildlife.
Like our current president, Bolsonaro is driving borders between various demographics of people within Brazil; those who support him, and those who are calling his impending rule an “Apocalypse Now” movement. The majority of the Brazilian population, however, is ignoring a significant aspect of their country, instead putting walls up to create tunnel vision. It’s clear how Bolsonaro’s environmental regulations- or lack thereoff- will fare in the future, when we face immense global health issues. How will cultural, environmental, and political borders be redefined in Brazil when this occurs?
sidenote: Indonesia is already struggling with an extreme surplus of carbon emissions due to Bush’s 2007 proposal regarding ethanol energy. Why do nations fail to look over their own borders and observe the problems endured by countries who made similar decisions? Similarly, why do we fail to look at history while contemplating decisions?
-Anna