BY OLIVER STUENKEL
JULY 1, 2021
https://americasquarterly.org/article/bolsonaros-turmoil-could-be-the-amazons-gain/
Facing a new corruption scandal, the embattled president may be willing to restart dialogue on deforestation.
SÃO PAULO – After successfully outmaneuvering his critics during his first two years in office, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro has entered the most challenging period of his presidency. While for now he retains the support in Congress to avoid impeachment, an unpredictable congressional inquiry into his handling of the pandemic and an alleged corruption scandal in his health ministry have forced the president to play defense for the foreseeable future.
With this stormy outlook, Bolsonaro may prove more susceptible to growing pressure around an issue he has so far resisted: reducing deforestation in the Amazon.
Increasingly unpopular and subject to growing protests, Bolsonaro’s current position is an uncomfortable one for a leader who normally manages to keep his opposition off balance through a mix of bluster, threats, diversion and entertainment. Emblematic of Bolsonaro’s troubles, the president recently fired his controversial environment minister, Ricardo Salles, who oversaw a historic surge in deforestation and the defunding of Brazil’s environmental…
Read full text here.
