Lula vows to take on Amazon crime if returned to power in Brazil elections

Asked by the Guardian what concrete steps he would take as president to address the explosion of Amazon devastation and attacks on Indigenous communities, Lula vowed to create a ministry for native peoples and rebuild the environmental agency, Ibama, which critics claim Bolsonaro has deliberately dismantled since taking office in 2019.

Lula also pledged to clamp down on the thousands of illegal gold prospectors who have swarmed into Indigenous territories since Bolsonaro became president and whose unlawful activities Phillips had covered extensively.

He predicted Bolsonaro would have no choice but to in practice accept defeat, just as his US ally Donald Trump was forced to do after losing to Joe Biden.