Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has warned Leonardo DiCaprio to ‘keep his mouth shut’ after the actor encouraged young Brazilians to vote in upcoming elections.
Last month, DiCaprio took to social media to encourage Brazil’s younger generations to take to the polling stations in order to have a say about Brazil’s critical ecosystems.
At the time, the actor and environmental activist wrote: “Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change. What happens there matters to us all and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet.”
He also shared a link to help Brazilians register in order to be able to vote in their upcoming elections. His messages came six months before Latin America’s largest country is set to vote for their next president.
In response, Bolsonaro furiously decried DiCaprio for the comments during a recent speech in front of supporters.
According to CNN, Bolsonaro said: “Now, DiCaprio has to know that it was the very president of the World Trade Organization who said that without Brazilian agribusiness, the world would be hungry.”
Last month, Bolsonaro also responded to DiCaprio’s tweet, writing: “Thanks for your support, Leo! It’s really important to have every Brazilian voting in the coming elections.”
“Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or be ruled by crooks who serve special foreign interests. Good job in The Revenant,” Bolsonaro concluded.
Brazil is gearing up to hold a general election in October 2022, where the hard-right incumbent will face challenges from leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
During his time as president, Bolsonaro has been accused of accelerating deforestation and weakening government organizations tasked with handling environmental issues. In the first three months of 2022, the size of Brazil’s land affected by deforestation was reportedly the highest on record.
Titanic star, DiCaprio, has long been an advocate for environmental protection and is also a United Nations representative for climate change. He also founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation which supports a wealth of sustainable initiatives.
