President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promised to move forward with two of Brazil’s most disputed Amazon infrastructure projects: the BR-319 highway and the Ferrogrão railway. Both are part of the federal Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), but both remain tied up in environmental licensing, court disputes and political pressure.
Lula, the leader of the center-left Workers’ Party (PT), said during a visit to Amazonas state that the BR-319, which links Manaus to Porto Velho, would be “the most environmentally well-situated” road on the planet. In an interview with Rede Amazônica, he said the government had already studied the environmental questions and that “nothing else” was missing except the start of work.
What the Projects Are
The BR-319 is an 850-kilometer-plus road through the Amazon that provides Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, with its only overland connection to the rest of Brazil. The highway was opened under Brazil’s military government in the 1970s, later deteriorated and has remained the subject of legal and environmental disputes for roughly two decades.
Supporters in Amazonas argue that paving and restoring the road would reduce isolation, improve access to health services and stabilize supplies to the region. Environmental organizations argue that a fully paved road could accelerate illegal occupation and deforestation in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions unless licensing and controls are robust.
Ferrogrão is a planned 933-kilometer railway linking Sinop, in Mato Grosso, to Miritituba, in Pará, creating a northern export route for soybeans and corn from Brazil’s farm belt. Agribusiness groups say the railway would reduce freight costs, cut reliance on the BR-163 highway and lower emissions by shifting grain transport from trucks to trains.
Legal and Environmental Hurdles
The projects are not cleared for immediate construction. O Globo reported that the Lula government has used a provision in Brazil’s new licensing law to advance bidding processes for parts of the BR-319, bypassing parts of the previous three-stage licensing model. Environmental groups have challenged that approach, saying the project still needs full scrutiny by Ibama, Brazil’s federal environmental agency.
The Ferrogrão project recently received a boost from Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF), which upheld changes to the boundaries of Jamanxim National Park, a protected area in Pará, that affect the project’s route. Poder360 reported that the decision left the railway dependent on further environmental licensing and updated technical studies.
Opposition to the railway remains strong among environmental and Indigenous organizations. O Globo reported that the route would pass through or affect more than 40 Indigenous lands and protected areas, while the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), which challenged the project in court, argued that environmental risks require more detailed assessment.
The Political Context
The timing adds a political layer. Lula made the pledges while visiting Amazonas in a trip that also involved local electoral negotiations ahead of Brazil’s October 2026 elections. Gazeta do Povo, citing opposition lawmakers and agribusiness-aligned politicians, framed the move as an attempt to reduce resistance to Lula among voters in the North and Center-West, regions where infrastructure is a central economic issue and where former president Jair Bolsonaro retains political strength.
The government presents the shift as compatible with climate responsibility. Lula has argued that Brazil can build roads and railways in the Amazon with stronger monitoring and environmental safeguards.
The core test is whether that claim survives the details: licensing, enforcement, financing and the ability to prevent infrastructure from becoming a corridor for illegal deforestation. For now, the president has changed the political signal. The projects themselves still face the harder work of execution.