Brazil runoff puts Amazon communities and mining in focus

Mining hopes in Roraima meet Indigenous determination to resist

The Guardian’s Today in Focus episode reports two strands of expectation ahead of Sunday’s Brazilian presidential runoff: voters, preachers and politicians in Roraima hope Flávio Bolsonaro will bring back mining, while Indigenous activists are determined to fight back even if the Bolsonaros take power again. The episode opens by saying that for the Amazon and the communities who live there, the stakes in the runoff could scarcely be higher, and it follows what is at stake for the Amazon rainforest and the communities living there.

The episode says Roraima, the country’s most northern state, heavily backed Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round. Phillips found the voters, preachers and politicians he met hopeful that Flávio — whom the Guardian’s episode calls ‘the far-right candidate’ — would bring back the mining his father, Jair Bolsonaro, encouraged when in power. The episode says that administration oversaw the felling of 11m acres (4.5m hectares) of rainforest.

The episode also reports on Indigenous activists determined to fight back even if the Bolsonaros take power again, a resolve that contrasts with the mining hopes recorded among the voters, preachers and politicians Phillips met.

Presenter Helen Pidd asks what it will all mean, not only for Brazil but also for the climate crisis more broadly. The episode’s regional focus in Roraima brings the national runoff’s implications for the Amazon rainforest and the people who live there into that broader question.

The Guardian released the Today in Focus episode “Brazil’s election and the battle for the Amazon – podcast” on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, at 04.00 CEST.

The episode was presented by Helen Pidd with Tom Phillips. Ivor Manley, Eli Block and Ross Burns produced it, and Sami Kent was executive producer.

At publication time, Sunday’s runoff was still ahead. The report records the expectations of the people Phillips met rather than an election result.

MSI previously reported Flávio Bolsonaro’s first-round bid in Brazil’s presidential election; this podcast follows the contest into Sunday’s runoff, with Roraima’s first-round backing, hopes for renewed mining and Indigenous determination to resist in focus.