Our work in Brazil

Ever since the 2016 impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff that was tantamount to a parliamentary coup, things have not been going too well in Brazil. A constitutional amendment to cap all social spending for 20 years negatively affected the poorest and most marginalized particularly in terms of access to healthcare and education. Criminally negligent handling of the COVID 19 pandemic led to the deaths of more than 700,000 people (despite the country being internationally renowned for the quality and effectiveness of its vaccination campaigns). Softened environmental regulations, principally for mining and industrial agriculture, had catastrophic environmental consequences. Deforestation and manmade fires increased in the Amazon, as did illegal mining with mercury. Dozens of herbicides and pesticides that are illegal in Europe and Canada for their human and environmental toxicity were legalized. Gross human rights violations and violent attacks against human rights and environmental defenders became rampant.

The poorest and most marginalized, especially the rural poor (Indigenous communities, traditional communities, peasants and rural workers) had it particularly hard under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), when state bodies and programs designed to protect or support the rural poor were cut. President Bolsonaro pursued a model of “economic development” that jeopardized poor peoples’ rights; opened up their territories to extractive industries; and emboldened powerful individuals and corporations to attack marginalized communities, invade their lands, pillage their natural resources and destroy the environment.

Rural violence and the assassination of rural leaders rose sharply during Bolsonaro’s mandate. The very foundations of Brazil’s democracy were also attacked, with Bolsonaro and his government often criticizing the Supreme Court, denying the horrors of the military era (1964-1985) and promoting disinformation. Notably, Bolsonaro frequently cast aspersions on the reliability of the electoral system, asserting that it would have to be rigged for him not to win a second mandate, fomenting doubt as to whether he would recognize an electoral loss. For months, his allies and supporters floated the idea of an assault like the United States Capitol attack of January 2021 in the event of Bolsonaro losing his re-election bid.

In October 2022, Bolsonaro lost to the left-winger, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula), who was sworn in on January 1, 2023. A week later, whipped up by months of goading, Bolsonaro’s supporters violently stormed the presidential palace, the Supreme Court and the National Congress, seeking to overthrow Lula. Many rioters said their purpose was to spur military leaders to commit a coup d’état and disrupt the democratic transition of power.

Although Brazil’s institutions withstood this assault on democracy, the country remains deeply polarized. The National Congress is composed mainly of politicians who are hostile to President Lula’s social-democratic agenda and his civil society allies, which include our partners. This may affect the president’s ability to implement policy changes that favour impoverished people the environment.

Meanwhile, our partners are working hard to make their analyses, interests and needs known and respected, and to ensure that the  constitution is upheld and that the most vulnerable citizens and the environment are protected.