A second term for right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro could further erode research and accelerate deforestation in the Amazon

_SCIENCE

Brazil’s presidential race is much closer than the polls predicted—and scientists are fretting. Many fear that another term for President Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing former army captain who frequently attacked science, would bring irreversible damage to science, education, the environment—and even to Brazilian democracy itself. Bolsonaro has cast doubts on the Brazilian voting system and signaled he will not recognize the results if he loses.

His rival, leftist former President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, comes with his own baggage: He was convicted on corruption charges in 2018 and spent 18 months in prison before his sentence was annulled. But he has promised to invest more in science and to chart a greener course than during his first presidency, from 2003 to 2011.

In September, polling data suggested Lula had a comfortable lead and might even win an absolute majority in the first round on 2 October. But he only received 48% of the vote, whereas Bolsonaro did better than expected with 43%, necessitating a 30 October runoff. “I’m worried,” says Luiz Davidovich, a professor and physicist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s main campus and former president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. “What is at stake now is democracy itself, the freedom of thinking, and the survival of science in Brazil.”

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A version of this story appeared in Science, Vol 378, Issue 6617.