Environmental officials fear new wave of harassment if Flavio Bolsonaro wins in Brazil
The memory of constant surveillance, transfers and locked computers haunts federal environmental servants.
Federal civil servants in Brazil's environmental and Indigenous affairs ministries are deeply concerned that a potential victory by Flávio Bolsonaro, President Jair Bolsonaro's son, could trigger another wave of intimidation and institutional harassment reminiscent of the previous administration's actions. According to Tânia Maria de Souza, president of the federal environmental civil servants' association, Ascema, the prospect of eliminating environmental protections to allow unrestricted land use by rural owners fills them with dread.
They describe it as "deja vu," recalling the brutal tactics employed during Jair Bolsonaro's tenure. Under the Bolsonaro administration, Indigenous territories were denied demarcation, deforestation soared, and violence against both Indigenous groups and public servants surged, all in direct contravention of Brazil's Federal Constitution.
Alexandre Bahia Gontijo, former director of Ascema and a former president of Asibama-DF, expressed the anguish the previous administration inflicted, calling it "traumatic." Activists describe Flávio Bolsonaro's proposed policies as "the return of the cattle herd," echoing a 2020 comment by the former Environment Minister Ricardo Salles that the COVID-19 pandemic could be exploited to deregulate environmental rules without facing congressional or media scrutiny.
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