Brazil’s ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged Monday that he would fight deforestation in the Amazon if he wins presidential elections in October. He said he will strengthen environmental and control agencies that have been weakened under current President Jair Bolsonaro. During his reign, Bolsonaro invariably emphasized economic interests rather than nature conservation.
“We will end illegal gold mining and we will seriously fight deforestation,” Lula told a group of international journalists in São Paulo on Monday. He argued that no more trees need to be cut down to grow soy or maize, or to raise more livestock. “If the world is willing to help, preserving a tree in the Amazon could be worth more than any other investment.”
In the presidential election in October, the left-wing candidate Lula will face the right-wing populist Bolsonaro. Lula was Brazil’s leader from 2003 to 2011. But he was sentenced to about 12 years in prison in 2018 for corruption and money laundering. As a result, he was unable to participate in the 2018 elections, which Bolsonaro subsequently won. Lula was released early in 2019. And last year Brazil’s highest court overturned his sentence. This allowed him to return to the political scene.
Lula is ahead of Bolsonaro in the polls. The incumbent president said Monday he will respect the outcome of the October election, regardless of who wins. However, as long as the ballot box is “fair and transparent”, he added.