"The greatest fire on earth": How VW and the Brazilian military regime accidentally helped to turn the Amazon into a global political arena

Abstract

Over the 1970s and 1980s, the Amazon became a symbol of debates about the planet's future, highlighting not only ecological risks but also land conflict and human exploitation, and provoking indignation far beyond Brazilian borders. Based on a study of the Cristalino cattle-ranch, established in 1973 by the VW Company with the support of the military regime, the article explores the reasons for the "political globalization" of the Amazon. By trying to attract global attention for their policies of forest colonization, which they presented as a universal model, the Brazilian government and its business partners unwittingly contributed to turning the Amazon into an arena of global controversies.