With an admirable track record of fulfilling all his promises, Cerrado grants his first interview as a candidate and takes the opportunity to campaign: "Think of me when you vote!"
Sentenced to over seventy years for a crime he did not commit and serving a life sentence of hard labor in agribusiness, the now-candidate for the Cerrado elections claims to be wronged and demands his freedom. In an exclusive interview, Cerrado denounces that he has been a victim of torture by the public authorities and the private sector: “They took away my food diversity and force me to eat soy all day long. I can't even stand the smell anymore. They also subject me to long sessions of cattle trampling! It feels like I'm constantly in a nightmare, screaming for help without anyone hearing me,” he reveals exclusively.
The sentence against the biome was pronounced in the mid-1950s, when agribusiness began to develop in central Brazil and hasn't stopped since. To advance, monoculture orchestrated a political strategy that condemned the Cerrado to torture and the curtailment of its natural freedom. "I committed no crime, but they had to invent a lie so they could take advantage of me. They said my soil wasn't good, but they keep increasing the grain harvest," he denounces.
He enters the interview room and surprises everyone: he is a mature gentleman of millions of years, short in stature, with a crooked spine, but with roots extending over 30 meters, which were difficult to organize in the small reporting room. Indignant but with his head held high, the Cerrado candidate contests the elections and makes history as the first biome to attempt a seat in the Federal Chamber, while simultaneously fighting against his unjust conviction. agri-food industryIn this exclusive interview, the candidate rebuts fake news Regarding this, he reveals all about what is really happening in the heart of Brazil and promises an environmental political revolution starting in 2023.
Why are you in jail?
I don't know why I'm trapped between soybeans and cattle. It's an unjust sentence. They didn't like my twisted trunk, my thick bark, my broad leaves. They didn't like that I was shorter and that I lost my leaves in winter to feign death and conserve water. They didn't like my red color and my pebbles. But they really liked my flat terrain and my water sources, which could benefit their crops. To exploit my riches against my will, they had to invent a story that I wasn't fertile, that my soil wasn't good. Can you believe that! Me, the most biodiverse savanna in the world! How can they say my land isn't good? And they still have no shame, because they don't stop harvesting soybeans. So, objectively, I answer you: I am trapped by a fake news that they made up about me.
And what do you have to say to those who believe this fake news?
I am responsible for 5% of all the planet's biodiversity, half of which is exclusively mine. I border all other Brazilian biomes, except the Pampas, corresponding to 24% of Brazilian territory. I am present in 11 Brazilian states! Even São Paulo has Cerrado, did you know? Of the 12 most important hydrographic basins in the country, 8 originate from me. If I die, you die too, because without water there is no life. I house the Guarani, Bambuí, and Urucuia aquifers, with the Guarani being the second largest underground water reservoir in the world. I don't mean to brag, but my hydrological and energy importance is impressive. I am responsible for 70% of the flow of the São Francisco River and 47% of the flow of the Paraná River basin that supplies the Itaipu hydroelectric plant. My waters are also important for Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. Not to mention that I store approximately 13,7 billion tons of carbon and am home to thousands of peoples, traditional communities, and family farmers.
Is your imprisonment really that bad? The talk is that all of Brazil is benefiting from the expansion of agribusiness in the Cerrado.
What are they gaining? They're losing water, food, biodiversity, and climate balance. I've been saying this for a long time. When it's all over, there's nothing to cry about. But there's still time to curb deforestation, restore degraded areas, and value the socio-biodiversity economy.
How?
Vote for me in these elections! #VoteForTheCerrado [He speaks while signaling the hashtag with his white ipê flower-covered fingers and a smile on his face]
But don't you like being featured in national exports?
I confess that I feel tortured every day. I suffer from the trampling of cattle and the forced labor of dedicating myself to monoculture grain farming. They took away my food diversity and force me to eat soy all day long. I can't stand the smell of soy anymore; I want my cagaita, my mangaba, my lobeira, and all the other thousands of species I used to have; I want the animals and the people who feed on them and who are dwindling in number every day. I'll tell you that I'm not alone. I am many, I am a legion, thousands of traditional communities who feel the same as I do. We are talking about indigenous people, quilombola communities, babaçu coconut breakers, artisanal fishermen, communities of fundo and fecho de pasto (traditional grazing systems), and various other traditional segments.
What exactly do you want?
I want my freedom back, I want to be who I am, the most biodiverse savanna in the world, which guarantees water, food, culture, and climate security for the populations. I'm not asking for anything excessive. I don't understand how people see the climate tragedies happening and don't understand that they are directly related to the deforestation that is happening to me and my companion, the Amazon, another warrior. We want the freedom to be who we are, biodiverse nature!
As a candidate from the center of Brazil, what do you think needs to change?
In the first half of 2022 alone, an area the size of the Federal District, approximately 472.816 hectares, was deforested from my land. Did you know that I lose 2 hectares of native vegetation every day? Private areas accounted for 78,9% of the deforestation in the biome. Enough! I want to regain autonomy over my territory, I want to see trees sprouting and communities happy again. In the last 36 years, more than 16 million of my hectares have been transformed into soy. It's good food, but it can't be the only food! Just thinking about it makes me nauseous.
And how did the idea of running for election come about?
After seeing so many candidates using my name in vain – and misusing it! – I thought I had no choice but to enter the real political race. It was difficult at first; we had to consult several legal teams because no biome had ever been a candidate before, but my lawyers managed to find a loophole to guarantee my candidacy. I entered to win! In this world of candidates who make broken promises, I have my history of always fulfilling promises in my favor: I guarantee water, food, culture, energy, and environmental balance. No one has a better track record than me!
And what are their main promises?
We need to change environmental economic policy. This can be guaranteed with zero tolerance for deforestation, recovery of degraded areas using seed networks from traditional communities, and incentives to strengthen the economy of traditional peoples, communities, and family farmers. Those who give me their vote can be sure that I will fight tooth and nail to prevent anti-environmental and anti-indigenous projects from being approved in the Federal Chamber. #VoteForTheCerrado