Bolsonaro’s Love Affair With Mining Aims at the Amazon’s Treasures
- There’s no detailed plan yet, but he’s been supportive in past
- Move could upset environmental protection, indigenous peoples
Photographer: Pedro Lobo/Bloomberg
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On a flight to Brasilia last year, Jair Bolsonaro’s carry-on bag contained little more than two small chunks of metal mined in Brazil: One was graphene, used in solar cells; the other niobium, which strengthens steel.
At the time, he said he hoped to display them in a TV interview, evidence of the promise mining holds for Brazil’s struggling economy. While some of the former Army captain’s ideas have shifted over time, Bolsonaro’s desire to unleash the mining potential of the Amazon, the 1.7 billion-acre rainforest in the heart of South America, has held strong.