Brazil's Lula pledges to finish paving road experts say could worsen Amazon deforestation

Reis Santo Vieira paints a boat on a dry part of the Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon River, during the dry season in Humaita, Amazonas state, Brazil, Sept. 7, 2024. Residents transport drinking water from Humaita to the Paraizinho community, along the dry Madeira River, a tributary of the Amazon River, during the dry season, Amazonas state, Brazil, Sept. 8, 2024.

In a visit to see the damage caused by drought and fire in the Amazon, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to pave a road that environmentalists and some in his own government say threatens to vastly increase destruction of the world's largest tropical forest — and contribute to climate change.