Headlines June 6, 2023 from Democracy Now!

Author, civil rights activist and professor of philosophy Cornel West has announced he’s running for president as a candidate with the People’s Party. In a short video released Monday, West said his campaign will focus on ending poverty, mass incarceration, wars and ecological collapse, while guaranteeing housing, healthcare, education and living wages for all.

Cornel West: “I have decided to run for truth and justice, which takes the form of running for president of the United States as a candidate for the People’s Party. I enter in the quest for truth. I enter in the quest for justice. And the presidency is just one vehicle to pursue that truth and justice, what I’ve been trying to do all of my life.”

In Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has unveiled a plan to end deforestation in the Amazon by 2030. Lula and Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva made the announcement Monday as part of their efforts to combat climate change. This is Lula speaking from the capital Brasília.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: “Mainly because of the Amazon rainforest, Brazil is largely responsible for the world’s climate balance. That is why stopping deforestation in the Amazon is also a way to reduce global warming. I know the size of the challenge of ending deforestation by 2030, but this is a challenge we are determined to achieve.”

Lula’s remarks came as loved ones marked one year since the murder of Brazilian Indigenous researcher Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips, who were shot dead in a remote area of the Brazilian Amazon last June while investigating threats to the rainforest and isolated Indigenous tribes. Several suspects in the case remain jailed awaiting trial, including the alleged mastermind who is believed to be the leader of an illegal fishing criminal organization in the region. Dom Phillips’s wife Alessandra Sampaio said they’ve continued to receive threats.

Alessandra Sampaio: “We have received death threats via letters and telephone. When is it going to stop? When is it going to stop? The death of Dom and Bruno was not enough? … We are at a point where we can no longer ignore the issue of violence in the Amazon. It is very important that we become more vigilant.”