Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro defended his administration’s record protecting the Amazon rainforest, telling the United Nations’ virtual meeting of global leaders on Tuesday that his country has been wrongly portrayed as an environmental villain. Bolsonaro’s critics were quick to pick apart his claims.

Even before the tumultuous arrival of COVID-19, many parts of the world were suffering from dangerous polarization and division.

Around the world, COVID-19 is accelerating polarization and division.

We can give people a better sense of what’s happening around them at a time of extreme confusion and a motivation to act. Because ultimately, the future is what we make it, says ‘Terra Incognita’ co-author Dr Robert Muggah.

Robert Muggah (apparently an old Scottish name, though he is Canadian) has set up two think-tanks in Brazil, where he is based: the SecDev Group focuses on the digital economy and cybersecurity.

Recent political developments in the United States are threatening internet freedom and cybersecurity across Latin America.

Related concern about state brutality also propels two expert advocates up the list: Ilona Szabó de Carvalho (5th), who set up the internationally-influential Igarapé Institute, which champions citizen-led security, and the American prison abolitionist

Robert Muggah, co-founder of Brazil-based security and development think tank Igarape Institute, said that while Monday’s operation will “sting,” it is “unlikely to make a major dent on the PCC” given the organization’s vast size, hierarchy and deep roots in the country’s prison system.

The Amazon Basin is approaching a dangerous tipping point.

“This includes shining a light not just on crime groups and shady business but also the corrupt government officials – including police, notary clerks, customs officials, and politicians – who facilitate the business,” Szabó said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.