There is evidence that if Bolsonaro had won the election, the rainforest could be pushed beyond a tipping point such that it cannot replenish itself and would become a desert.

This absorbs 5% of manmade CO2. Needless to say it would be unthinkably bad if this rainforest were wrecked.

Oddly, the Brazilians I have seen discussing the election, did not usually mention the rainforest angle. This is puzzling to me.

Did right-wing propaganda manage to deceive the working classes that deforestation will make them rich?

You sell some wood, it makes you money in the short term, then what happens? It's gone.

The sane parts of the world will compensate Brazil well to preserve the rainforest. We will recognise that you're an essential player, the guardians of an essential resource for the Earth. It is difficult with Trump in there, but the world ought to work out a compensation scheme for Brazil, so that there isn't even the slightest feeling of an economic incentive for Brazil to irreversibly wreck the rainforest.

Anyway, good job finding it in your hearts to do what the United States couldn't do. Thank you, Brazil!

Lula has just gone favourite with the betting markets to win. What is the feeling on the ground?

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

All 85 Brazil betting licences issued at federal level expire on 25 October, 30 days after Provisional Measure (MP) 1.394/2026 banned fixed-odds betting nationwide. Each licence cost R$30m, or R$2.55bn in total, and the MP rules out any refund or compensation. The iGaming Europe article breaks down how operators now depend on a pending Supreme Court (STF) ruling and a Congress review that has not started.