A Review of The Amazon in Times of War

Marcos Colón’s book The Amazon in Times of War offers a compelling collection of essays exposing the physical, economic and institutional violence that devastates the Amazon. He argues that much of this destruction stems from deliberate state policies enacted under former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023). Colón not only documents the struggles of Indigenous and other traditional communities but also critiques the role of profit-driven industries such as logging, mining and cattle ranching in the ongoing exploitation of the Amazon and its peoples. The author’s multifaceted roles as a professor, journalist, documentary producer, director and founder of the environmental magazine Amazônia Latitude shine through his deep knowledge of these issues. His writing serves not only as an academic analysis but also as a call to action, urging readers to confront the interlinked challenges of environmental destruction, Indigenous rights and global ecological health.

The book begins with a foreword by historian and explorer John Hemming, who laments the destruction caused by one species–humans–against countless others. Hemming’s perspective sets the tone for the book, highlighting the moral and environmental catastrophe unfolding in the Amazon.

The Amazon in Times of War by Marcos Colón (Practical Action Publishing and Latin America Bureau, 2024, 188 pp.)

The book is divided into three parts, each focusing on a different aspect of life in the Amazon under Bolsonaro’s regime. Part 1, “The Amazon in Times of War,” examines the escalation of violence and environmental destruction during Bolsonaro’s presidency. The seven essays in this chapter explore different facets of this violence, from deregulation and exploitation to threats and killings of Indigenous peoples.

In the essay “Environmental Fascism is Haunting the Amazon” (Chapter I), Colón identifies Bolsonaro’s policies and discourse as a form of “environmental fascism,” a framework that justifies the predatory use of natural resources under exclusive governmental control. He contends that Bolsonaro sees the Amazon as merely an “underdeveloped remote area.” The Bolsonaro administration disregarded its significance in regulating the global climate, hydrological cycles and biodiversity, as well as its importance for Indigenous peoples and Brazilians in general.

Notably, in the next essay, “The Fire Balance Sheet” (Chapter II), Colón explores how Bolsonaro’s administration dismantled key environmental agencies and reduced their enforcement powers, allowing unchecked economic exploitation in the Amazon. The essay also examines how the fires ravaging the region sparked international tensions, particularly with France, where President Macron threatened to suspend the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. While it appeared that the international community was supporting environmental protection in Brazil, these threats aligned more with the demands of the French agricultural sector, which feared that the agreement with Brazil would negatively impact their industry, Colón recounts. Crucially, Amazonian communities most affected by the fires were excluded from discussions about the fires.

The essay “A Brief Overview of Violence in the Amazon” (Chapter III) shifts focus to the Amazon’s triple border region between Brazil, Peru and Colombia, a hotspot for drug trafficking and related violence. This violence is combined with less visible forms of aggression, including land grabs, human trafficking and the expansion of the agricultural frontier. Bolsonaro’s administration halted investigations into these crimes and discontinued the demarcation of Indigenous lands, which had historically helped reduce deforestation, Colón writes. The absence of government protection against invasions by loggers, miners and other extractive industries has led to a rise in murders of Indigenous leaders, as Colón explains in The Year of Killing (Chapter IV). In particular, in the following essay “Two Men Missing in the Amazon ‘Wild West’” (Chapter V), Colón recounts the tragic disappearances of journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous rights defender Bruno Araujo Pereira in the Javari Valley, located in the Amazon triple border region. Their murders remain unsolved, and their case highlights the dangers faced by those advocating for Indigenous rights and environmental protection in the Amazon, Colón writes.

In “‘Letting the Stampede Through’: Changes in Environmental Laws During the Pandemic” (Chapter VI), Colón describes how Bolsonaro’s Minister of the Environment Ricardo Salles exploited the focus on the Covid-19 pandemic to further weaken environmental laws. The Ministry of Agriculture, aligned with the interests of the beef and soy industries, was granted control over policies that should have fallen under the Ministry of the Environment, paving the way for greater exploitation of the rainforest. Additionally, Bolsonaro’s administration mandated the armed forces to enforce the law on Indigenous lands. This section ends with the essay “Will the Amazon Rainforest Become a Commodity?” (Chapter VII), in which Colón uses the transformation of Maicá Lake into a private port for soybean exports as an example of development in the Amazon supported by the administration that threatens traditional fishing communities’ livelihoods, the fish who live in the lake and the lake itself.

Part 2, “The Amazon and the Pandemic,” consisting of six essays, explores the devastating impact of Covid-19 on Amazonian communities already grappling with inadequate healthcare and systematic neglect by the government. Through the photographic exhibition “Amazônia Hunger,” Colón adds a moving layer to the narrative, showing the pandemic’s toll on Brazilian and Peruvian Amazonian communities.

In “Hunger in the Amazon: The Invisible Companion of COVID-19” (Chapter VIII), Colón examines how the pandemic exacerbated food insecurity in the Amazon. Many riverine communities, cut off from access to land and sustainable agriculture, rely on external goods like sugar and canned food, which became increasingly scarce during the pandemic. This dependency and disrupted supply chains led to a surge in hunger and poverty, as Colón recounts through words and images.

In “Deregulation and Deforestation Fuel the Pandemic in the Amazon” (Chapter IX), Colón explores how deforestation and environmental degradation under Bolsonaro’s administration fueled the spread of diseases like malaria, dengue and Zika, which hit Amazonian cities, towns and communities particularly hard due to a lack of healthcare infrastructure. He also advocates for a community-based approach to healthcare in the Amazon in the essay “Healthcare Means Going to the Community” (Chapter X). Colón argues that healthcare should be delivered directly to remote communities through satellite communication, solar energy, availability of antibiotics and venom antiserums, and local health workers trained to respect Indigenous culture. He highlights the success of the Urihi Saúde Yanomami program, which reduced malaria deaths and infant mortality by integrating Western medicine with traditional knowledge.

In the following essay, “Brazil’s Yanomami People: Silence, Devastation, and Fear” (Chapter XI), Colón details the plight of the Yanomami people, hit hard by illegal gold mining and the pandemic. The government’s efforts to legalize gold mining in Indigenous territories and its failure to provide adequate healthcare have left the Yanomami vulnerable to both environmental and public health crises. He then explores the example of communities living along the Amazon’s rivers impacted by extreme flooding exacerbated by climate change, making the pandemic even more devastating in the essay “Above the Marombas: The Pandemic in the Amphibious Amazon” (Chapter XII). Finally, he reflects on the political dimensions of the pandemic, arguing that virus transmission to Indigenous communities has worsened by incursions from invaders in the essay “The Amazon and the Enigma of ‘Pure Luck” (Chapter XIII).

Part 3, “Beyond War: Life in the Amazon,” offers a more hopeful perspective, focusing on the resilience of Amazonian communities. This section emphasizes the possibility of transformation and the urgent need for collective action to protect the Amazon.

First, Colón argues in the essay “A Paradise Under Suspicion” (Chapter XIV) that we should not neglect Indigenous holistic understandings of the Amazon, as Western views are limited, treating the region as terra nullius, a rich land open to violent exploitation and colonization. After this warning, Colón calls for an international and national coalition to defend Indigenous peoples and halt the violence and exploitation of the Amazon in the essay “Only a Global Coalition Will Save the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon” (Chapter XV). Notably, Colón argues that creativity, solidarity and resources from global citizens and organizations can save the region.

Colón also urges readers to listen to Indigenous peoples and learn from their knowledge and practices to protect the Amazon. In “Amazônia Redux: A Re-evaluation of Urgent Needs” (Ch. XVI), he argues that dialogue between scientific and Indigenous knowledge can help reshape environmental policy. To exemplify the latter, in “Stepping Softly on the Earth” (Chapter XVII), Colón introduces his documentary, which showcases Indigenous resistance to monocultural farming, deforestation and mining projects. The documentary highlights the value of ancestral knowledge as an alternative to Western capitalist models.

On a different note, in the essay “COP26: Cognitive Dissonance” (Chapter XVIII), Colón critiques the contradictions of the COP26 climate summit, where economic power, technology and scientific innovation were emphasized over the needs and rights of Indigenous peoples and affected communities. Finally, in “Another Brazil is Possible” (Chapter XIX), Colón uses the powerful image of 24-year-old Tawy Zo’é carrying his 67-year-old father, Wahu Zó’é, to receive a Covid vaccine, to reflect on the resilience of Indigenous peoples in the face of neglect by the state. This image contrasts with Bolsonaro’s anti-vaccine stance, underscoring the government’s abandonment of its Indigenous citizens.

The book concludes with an epilogue, “The Amazon Is Still at War” (Chapter XX), in which Colón celebrates the end of Bolsonaro’s “policy of death,” but cautions that the fight to protect the Amazon is far from over. He critiques the Lula administration for failing to fully grasp that the defense of the Amazon is also a defense of human life. While deforestation has decreased under Lula, the crisis continues, with increasing fires and the government struggling to address the root causes of environmental destruction. The afterword by Professor Scott Slovic deepens the reader’s understanding of the ongoing crisis in the Amazon, ensuring that Colón’s urgent message resonates long after the book ends.

Throughout The Amazon in Times of War, Colón’s analysis highlights the violence inflicted on Indigenous peoples and their lands, he implicitly underscores the parallel destruction of animals and nature. Animals in the Amazon suffer from the encroachment of the same industrial activities—whether through cattle ranching, habitat destruction, pollution, trafficking for the pet trade, being hunted for trophies or the inability to adapt to climate change and rising temperatures, flooding and droughts.

Colón also touches upon the broader issue of consumption habits and the relationships with other living beings, noting that Indigenous peoples cannot be solely responsible for saving the planet. Collective effort and alliances are required. However, many people, particularly in Western countries with access to various nutritious plant-based foods, resist changing their diets, especially regarding meat consumption. This resistance reflects a failure to confront the ethical and ecological implications of our relationship with animals and a lack of solidarity with those putting their lives at risk in the rainforest to protect it. Indigenous peoples are putting their lives on the line to protect the Amazon, while many of us, in the relative comfort of our homes, continue to resist giving up meat consumption that contributes to the destruction they are fighting against.

My research aligns with Colón’s emphasis on the urgent need for systemic change, but I also argue that saving the planet requires a paradigm shift in how we relate to other animals. It is essential to recognize that animals, like humans, have their own lives, interests, families, communities and habitats. Tackling industrial animal agriculture and shifting towards plant-based diets are not just matters of personal choice but of collective responsibility in saving both the Amazon, its human and nonhuman inhabitants and the broader planet. Colón fails to make these points, which could have easily been raised in his otherwise brilliant analysis.

Colon’s The Amazon in Times of War is an essential contribution to the ongoing conversation about the future of the Amazon and the planet. His book not only documents the region’s struggles but also calls for urgent action to safeguard its future. By highlighting the intertwined fates of nature, animals, Indigenous communities and global health, Colón urges readers to recognize the Amazon’s central role in our collective survival.

Macarena Montes Franceschini is a Fellow at the Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School. She holds a Ph.D. in Law from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, 2022). She is also a board member of the UPF-Centre for Animal Ethics, editor of the journal Law, Ethics and Philosophy (LEAP) and the treasurer of the Great Ape Project – Spain. She has written several articles on nonhuman animal personhood, animal rights, the rights of nature and a book titled Animal Law in Chile.

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