Brazil's election and the battle for the Amazon: what the vote means for forests and climate
With Brazil's presidential runoff due on Sunday, the future of the Amazon and its communities is at stake. In the northern state of Roraima, many hope Flávio Bolsonaro will bring back mining, while Indigenous activists are preparing to resist.
Brazil holds the runoff round of its presidential election on Sunday, and the result will weigh heavily on the Amazon rainforest and the communities who live there. It may also matter for the global climate crisis. The Guardian's Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, has travelled to Roraima, Brazil's northernmost state, to report on the mood there.
Roraima backs Bolsonaro
The region voted heavily for the far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round. Phillips spoke to voters, preachers and politicians. All of them hope Bolsonaro will bring back the mining that his father, Jair Bolsonaro, strongly encouraged while in power. Jair Bolsonaro's administration oversaw the felling of 11m acres (4.5m hectares) of rainforest.
Indigenous resistance
Phillips also met Indigenous activists. They say they are determined to fight back even if the Bolsonaros return to power.
The report is part of a Guardian podcast. In it, presenter Helen Pidd asks what the outcome could mean not only for Brazil but for the climate crisis more broadly.
