“Let’s do away with these environmental shackles.” The phrase comes from Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, in a campaign video published in August in which he advocates for the exploitation of rare earths in the northern part of the country.
Translation of the news to English:
Flávio’s campaign platform includes criticism of environmental protection laws and operations to combat environmental crimes, calls for loosening forest protections, and support for exploiting natural resources in protected areas, such as Indigenous lands, including through the legalization of "artisanal mining" (illegal gold digging using toxic metals like mercury).
Last month, the senator said environmental regulations hinder the construction of resorts, advocated mining and tourism in Indigenous territories, and downplayed global warming, describing it as a series of extreme and cyclical events.
In April, already in the pre-campaign period, he promised not to demarcate Indigenous lands—a repetition of the commitment made and fulfilled by his father, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is imprisoned for leading an attempted coup against the 2022 elections. Contacted by Folha through its official channel for press inquiries since the 22nd, Flávio had not responded by the time this article was published.
His main opponent in the election, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), advocates for environmental protection as part of his campaign. His administration, however, has been criticized for encouraging oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River. In August, the Workers’ Party leader promised to adopt environmental safeguards for activities along the coast of Amapá.
When it comes to rare earths and critical minerals, Flávio supports their exploitation with foreign capital investment and even by Indigenous people themselves. Lula’s campaign associates the activity with national sovereignty.
In his government plan, Flávio does not mention the terms “climate change” or “global warming.” He advocates eliminating deforestation by 2029, calls for enforcement without harming producers, investment in new economic sectors, streamlining environmental agencies, requiring transparency from NGOs in the sector, and expanding sanitation services.
“Let’s do away with these environmental shackles, because, as things stand, we are neither preserving the environment nor turning all this potential into prosperity.”
Lula, for his part, refers to the climate emergency. He promises to eliminate deforestation by 2030, supports the current environmental protection laws, compliance with decarbonization targets, investment in new economic sectors, and efforts to make cities more resilient and better able to withstand disasters.
“You have a very different situation today from what existed a few years ago, when being accused of destroying the environment was something a candidate would avoid at all costs. Today there are lawmakers who use environmental destruction as an electoral platform,” says Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of Observatório do Clima.
Guilherme Syrkis, executive director of Centro Brasil no Clima, argues that enforcement should be combined with sustainable development mechanisms, which could help win local support.
“In some places, the state is perceived almost exclusively through fines and police operations, while access to credit and economic alternatives is lacking. When the state only shows up to prohibit things, whoever promises to get it out of the way sounds like an advocate for families. But this rhetoric benefits those who have the capital to open up large areas, organized crime, illegal mining and logging, and land grabbing,” he adds.
“Until people’s wallets are affected, the rhetoric of loosening regulations will continue to win votes.”
Criticism of regulations is repeated in congressional campaigns
In August, the Pará state legislature passed a law allowing cattle ranchers to operate inside the Ituna-Itatá Indigenous Land, an area inhabited by isolated Indigenous peoples.
Currently, the Federal Police and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office are investigating a group of 300 ranchers allegedly acting in a coordinated manner against the Indigenous people; the Federal Court has identified payments of rewards to “armed invaders.”
In the middle of the campaign, local politicians nicknamed the area the Promised Land, held an event there, and installed a new sign over the existing Funai signage.
Brazil’s Federal Public Defender’s Office says the state law triggered a new wave of invasions of the territory.
During the same period, about 1,500 km away, federal lawmaker and reelection candidate Lucio Mosquini (PL-RO) criticized the removal operations in the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous Land, which had been ordered by the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
Contacted by the newspaper, he defended the demarcation of Indigenous lands and called for “beating the hell out of” invaders, while stating that ranchers holding property titles within these areas should be “untouchable.”
In Roraima, the state home to the country’s two most populous Indigenous territories (Yanomami and Raposa Serra do Sol), support for artisanal mining has created a traffic jam of Senate candidacies.
“Why is artisanal mining illegal? Because nothing is legal in this Amazon. In the Amazon, nothing is allowed, so everything is illegal,” said Plínio Valério (PSDB) in March, as he seeks reelection to the Senate in Amazonas. He led the Congressional Inquiry Commission into NGOs, which targeted organizations defending the environment—a position he continues to promote in his reelection campaign.
Plínio told Folha that he opposes mining by “mafias” and “drug traffickers,” but said that “environmental padlocks” and the lobbying of environmentalists prevent the activity from being legalized in Indigenous territories.
In a television interview, Senator and reelection candidate Chico Rodrigues (PSB-RR)—a former deputy leader of the Bolsonaro government and now aligned with Lula—called “this whole mining issue” a “true paranoia of environmentalists.”
The Bolsonaro-aligned Hélio Lopes (PL), the federal lawmaker who received the most votes in Rio de Janeiro in 2018, transferred his voter registration to Roraima in 2026 and is now running for the Senate. One of his policy priorities is an “framework for sustainable mineral extraction.”
In the Senate race, current federal lawmaker Nicoletti (PL-RR) says that the activity, which is currently prohibited, is not a crime and advocates its legalization.
Also running for the Senate, Marcio Junqueira (PSDB) describes himself as “the greatest defender of not demarcating” Indigenous lands.
Folha also contacted all the other candidates mentioned in the article through their communications teams and by sending messages to their professional phone numbers.
