President Biden and other world leaders are gathering in Brazil for the G20 summit. Ahead of the meeting, Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Amazon rainforest. On Saturday, Indigenous protesters in Rio de Janeiro took giant cutouts of Biden and other world leaders and sank them in the water to demand more action on the climate crisis. This is Kleber Karipuna of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil.
Kleber Karipuna: “In anticipation of the meeting of big global leaders of the G20, we are sinking these heads to represent how these leaders, who head some of the biggest economies in the world, are failing to face climate change.”
In a separate protest, activists in Brazil placed 733 plates on Copacabana Beach to represent the 733 million people suffering from hunger in the world. Antônio Carlos Costa is the founder of the group Rio de Paz.
Antônio Carlos Costa: “We placed 733 empty plates on the sand of Copacabana Beach, symbolizing the 733 million human beings who went hungry last year, according to data provided by the United Nations. The aim of this public act is to demand that the public authorities attending G20 here in Rio de Janeiro make a swift commitment to eradicating hunger.”
Palestinian rights protesters also marched in Rio on Saturday to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon ahead of the G20 summit.