Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro makes a heart's shape with his hands to supporters outside Alvorada Palace in Brasilia on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Iconic Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso led a star-studded protest Wednesday against President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policy, seeking to block a series of bills that activists say would be devastating for the Amazon rainforest and beyond.

Thousands of protesters flooded the square at the seat of power in Brasilia, brandishing a giant inflatable turtle, bird and other animals and urging Congress to vote down what they call the "destruction package."

The rally was due to be followed by a concert headlined by Veloso, one of Brazil's most celebrated musicians, and featuring other stars including singer Daniela Mercury, rapper Emicida and musician and actor Seu Jorge.

The Bolsonaro-backed bills would pardon illegal seizures of public land, restrict the amount of territory eligible to be designated as indigenous reservations and open existing indigenous land to mining, among other measures.

Environmentalists say the legislation would accelerate environmental destruction, especially in the Amazon, where deforestation has surged since Bolsonaro took office in 2019.

The bills "would cause irreversible damage to the country and the planet, making it harder to stop deforestation and human rights abuses and cementing Brazil's reputation as an enemy of Earth's climate," Veloso wrote in a letter on behalf of the more than 200 organizations sponsoring the protest.

Accompanied by environmentalists and indigenous leaders in traditional feather headdresses and face paint, Veloso, 79, hand-delivered the letter to Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco, telling him Brazil's credibility was being "demolished" and singing a verse of his song "Terra" (Earth).

Fellow Brazilian music great Chico Buarque, 77, who could not be present because he was recovering from surgery, addressed the meeting by video conference.

"Nobody is against agribusiness, but unfettered, limitless profiteering needs to be stopped," he said.

Farming, and especially cattle ranching, is the main driver of deforestation in agricultural powerhouse Brazil, the world's biggest exporter of beef and soy.

Pacheco responded that Brazil needed to balance environmental preservation with "economic development that guarantees profits and food security." But he promised protesters: "We will proceed cautiously on all these bills."

AFP