Fire and Death in the Amazon

Abstract

The assassination of the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian expert on Indigenous peoples Bruno Pereira in the Amazon has become a symbol of the transformation’s role of the rainforest for the international status of Brazil. From an asset for the country, the destruction of nature has increased negative views of Brazil. This paper analyzes this reputational transformation. It combines three methods as following: (i) a qualitative study of the perceptions held by the foreign policy community of the P5 about the country; (ii) a review of the main changes of environmental policies under Bolsonaro, (iii) and a quantitative and systematic analysis of the international media coverage about Brazil’s image and, specifically, regarding the deaths of Phillips and Pereira. Based on these main analyses, the study argues that the progressive destruction of the Amazon has become a concrete liability for the status of the country.