Electra Kleitsa is a member of Xekinima (CWI in Greece).
It is estimated that since the beginning of 2019, when Jair Bolsonaro took over the presidency of Brazil, the Amazon lost an area of rainforest equal to one football field every minute. The countless fires that have broken out in recent weeks are destroying extremely important ecosystems, further increasing the rate of deforestation.
The losses
It is not just the skies of the major cities of Brazil and other Latin American countries that have turned black with smoke. The fires not only have terrible effects on the atmosphere itself, but they destroy the forest responsible for absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide. The fires affect the climate of the whole region, which depends on the rainforest and on the maze of rivers and underground streams. Moreover, a significant part of the biodiversity of the Amazon is lost, a diversity which is found nowhere else on the planet.
To understand the extent of the phenomenon, it is enough to know that a new species of flora or fauna is discovered in the Amazon every two days. In the huge fires that are destroying the Amazon today, we are losing species whose existence we will never know. Some of them could potentially be useful to all humanity for their healing properties. Others may play a key role in balancing the food chain, and their extinction will contribute to that of many others.
Attack on indigenous peoples
Beyond plants and animals, there are of course also humans. Not only the people of the whole planet and future generations who will be affected in the long term by the disaster, but also the people who live there today. There are indigenous tribes that still live in the forest, protecting it and depending on it for their existence. Some of these tribes will disappear or disperse with the destruction of their home.
These communities are known not only for their great cultural heritage, but also for their great struggles against the devastating race for “growth” in the Amazon. One of the most emblematic figures in this struggle was Chico Mendes, murdered in 1988 for trying to organize indigenous people against the destruction of the rainforest that was their home and means of survival. Today, his murderers, the big agricultural and mining companies and the state that serves them, continue their destructive work by burning the Amazon.
A “disturbing” giant forest
In most cases of forest fires, it is necessary to be cautious and have concrete evidence before talking about arson, or even consciously planned fires. But in the case of the Amazon forests, which has been threatened by big business interests for decades, and especially when countless fires have broken out simultaneously in different places, it is naive to talk about “accidental events”. The bulldozers moved too slowly for the capitalist interests, so the flames conveniently came along for them and cleared the field. Bolsonaro’s election gave the green light to speed up this process.
But why is the Amazon destroyed? What do those who attack the heart of this “useless” forest want? Lately, oil and gold companies have been increasingly harassing the indigenous communities that protect the Amazonian forests. Big livestock companies dream of converting even more of the forest into pastures. Most of the rainforest is seen as nothing more than that: new farms and fields for grazing. But how many fields do we need on the planet? Aren’t the existing fields enough for them? After all, the destruction of the Amazon is not new, but has been going on for many decades.
Fields for single-use
No, the fields are not enough for them, because the soil of the Amazon is not made to produce soya. It is suitable for the preservation of tropical forests, but is very low in the nutrients needed for agricultural production. Thus, after one or two years of production, the “field” becomes obsolete. So the food companies will find another field, in another equally unsustainable part of the Amazon. Centuries of natural history, incalculable natural resources, cultural heritage, unmapped biodiversity, human lives are being destroyed to produce agricultural products for a year or two. This summarises the absolute absurdity of the capitalist system.
The same more or less goes for the extraction industries that have targeted the area. They want to use it to extract gold or other raw materials, leaving huge destruction behind, and taking all their profits to tax havens.
An effective employee of big business
The Brazilian president, who made it clear from the first day he came to power that the Amazonian forest is an obstacle for the large companies whose interests he serves, attributed the fires to the environmental organizations active in the region! At the same time, he has left the fate of the Amazon to the major capitalist interests that rule the world economy.
A handful of companies, controlling the oil industry, food production and the extraction of raw materials are destroying the planet in order to maximize their profits. In order to stop them we must take these giant multinationals under public ownership and democratic workers control and management.
Not only is the Amazon burning. According to Global Forest Watch there have been over 8 million fire alerts in the world since the beginning of June. Large parts of Siberia have been burning due to forest privatisation and fire service cut-backs. Major fires have hit the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Zambia and Australia. These fires prove, once again, the inability of ruling parties and governments to tackle the climate crisis. People all over the world are taking to the streets in protests. Countless people are protesting in front of Brazilian embassies, demanding action. CWI activists are participating actively, proposing a program to turn anger into resistance. In Brazil, for example, the LSR is pointing out the responsibility of the large agricultural and industrial corporations and of the need to expropriate them and put them under the control and administration of the working people so that production can be planned according to our needs and not private profit. There is only one way out of this nightmare. We need to overthrow capitalism or it will destroy the environment and human civilization as we know it.
