Indigenous communities worry Brazil’s election could hurt environment

This dirt road takes us through the Amazon to meet indigenous people who fear what Brazil's next president could mean for their future. Here in the northern state of Amapá, tribal leaders have gathered ahead of the October 25th runoff. State-controlled Petrobras says it has found oil offshore. The prospect brings hope of development and fears for the environment. They say they have the technology to capture the oil if it spills, but the currents are strong in the sea and they can spread the oil and affect the rivers in the region. The news has spread fast, even here. We head downriver to the Palikur village of Kumene. It sits on an island, and this bridge provides the only access. Josiel do Orlando hopes oil could fund better schools and health care. He backs President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking re-election. Under Lula, Amazon deforestation has fallen. Lula has demarcated many indigenous lands and made us feel safer. Lula faces Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Under his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation surged. Flávio has advocated opening protected lands to mining and farming. He promises to end illegal deforestation while making forest clearing permits easier to obtain. This remote area of Brazil is thousands of kilometers away from the capital, Brasilia. But what is decided there will affect not only the lives of those living here, but also the future of the Amazon. Whoever wins will face a conservative Congress pushing for more development in the Amazon. that people here want a say in what that means for their land and their children.