In victory speech, Lula emphasizes Amazon preservation and says he will resume monitoring and surveillance

Marcela Leiros – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) made his victory speech this Sunday night, 30, in a hotel in São Paulo (SP). Alongside allies, Lula emphasized a recurring theme in his speeches during the election campaign: the preservation of the Amazon and the fight for zero deforestation of the biome. The new president of the Republic also spoke about the protection of indigenous peoples.

The now president affirmed that he intends to transform, once again, Brazil into a world reference in terms of the environment. He recalled that Amazon deforestation was reduced by 80% during his government, from 2003 to 2010.

“Brazil is ready to resume its protagonism in the fight against the climate crisis, protecting all our biomes, especially the Amazon forest. In our government, we were able to reduce by 80% the deforestation of the Amazon, considerably reducing the emission of gases that cause global warming”, he said.

Read also: Lula and Bolsonaro: deforestation of the Amazon and lack of oxygen in Manaus are mentioned in the first debate of the second round

The Brazilian presidential candidate declared again that the forest standing is worth more than on the ground, criticizing the greed of exploiters who deforest the biome. There was also criticism of illegal activities, such as mining on indigenous lands, reaffirming that practices like these must be fought.

“Brazil and the planet need a living Amazon. A standing tree is worth more than tons of wood illegally extracted by those who think of easy profit. A river of clear water is worth more than all the other extracted at the cost of mercury that kills fauna and puts human life at risk”, he added.

“When an indigenous child dies murdered by the greed of the predators of the environment, a part of humanity dies along with it. That is why we will resume monitoring and surveillance of the Amazon, and fight any and all illegal activities”, he concluded.

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Debates

In the last debate of the second round, on Friday night 28, when Lula and Bolsonaro were still candidates, the theme of the Amazon and environmental preservation was back on the table. During the last block of direct confrontation, Lula accused Bolsonaro of promoting a policy favorable to deforestation of the Amazon.

Bolsonaro retorted that Lula has deforested more than him. “You have deforested more than twice as much in your four years than on this side”, he said, to which the Workers Party candidate retorted.

“I’m glad you brought Marina Silva and she was my minister, and she gained more respectability on climate, the candidate knows that we reduced deforestation by more than 80% while agriculture was growing”, he added.

Norway

International relations, as well as financial aid from foreign countries for the preservation of the Amazon, were also punctuated by Lula during the electoral campaign. He recalled that Bolsonaro has shaken the good relationship with investor countries, undermining policies such as the Amazon Fund.

“We are going to try to make the biodiversity of the Amazon a way to enrich that people of the Amazon, of almost 30 million people who live there. And not deforest, and not ‘suspend fines’ as you are doing”, he told Bolsonaro during the first debate of the second round.

On Monday, 31, Norway, one of the main donors of the fund, announced that it will resume its financial aid against the deforestation of the Amazon in Brazil. The Scandinavian country, the main provider of resources for the protection of the Amazon forest, suspended aid to Brazil in 2019, the year Bolsonaro assumed the presidency.

“Regarding Lula, we note that during the campaign he emphasized the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the protection of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon”, said Espen Barth Eide, Environment Minister. “Therefore, we are eager to get in touch with his teams as soon as possible to prepare the resumption of the historically positive collaboration between Brazil and Norway”.