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12:53
Issued on: 07/11/2025 - 17:16
12:53 min
From the show
Reading time 1 min
As Brazil prepares to preside over the COP30 climate summit, the construction of a major highway is causing controversy. Authorised by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government, the BR-319 cuts through the heart of the Amazon rainforest. FRANCE 24's Fanny Lothaire and Marine Resse report.
To build Brazil's BR-319 highway, more than 850 kilometres of road will slice across the world's largest rainforest, connecting Manaus and Porto Velho. While local politicians, farmers and timber transporters defend the construction of the long-awaited road – which has been more than 20 years in the making – as vital for moving goods and people between these two isolated Amazonian capitals, many scientists and Indigenous communities are sounding the alarm.
The BR-319 could have catastrophic consequences for Indigenous peoples and for the Amazonian ecosystem. It would not only pave the way for loggers and mining operations, but could even facilitate the spread of devastating viruses.
The highway is a striking illustration of the schizophrenia of Brazil, a country torn between its need for development and its duty to protect its greatest natural resource.
English (US) · 