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One of the winners has the father of a former governor convicted in the first instance as a partner. Another, known as the asphalt champion, closed R$ 8.3 billion in contracts with Dnit in the current term. Behind, a technical note from MMA estimates deforestation up to four times greater in the region and 8 billion tons of CO2 more by 2050.
The Lula government advances with the paving of BR-319, a federal highway that cuts through the heart of the Amazon between Manaus and Porto Velho, with more than R$ 1.3 billion in tenders already published by Dnit. The path, however, is controversial: it involves construction companies targeted by Federal Police investigations and heavy criticism from environmentalists, who see the project as a threat to one of the most preserved areas of the Amazon rainforest.
The issue returned to the center of the debate on May 26, 2026, with the approval of the victory of one of the winning companies of one of the four auctions and with the visit of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Amazonas, scheduled for May 27 and 28. In a video released in April, Lula defended the highway as “dreamed and requested” and promised to carry out the work with “the greatest environmental care of any road ever made in the world,” a promise contested by environmental organizations.
What’s at stake in BR-319
Built between 1968 and 1976, during the military regime, and later abandoned, it has about 400 kilometers paved at the ends, but the central section, known as the “middle section,” remains in a precarious state. It is precisely in this section, considered one of the most preserved in the Amazon, that the four Dnit tenders aim to advance with the paving of 339.4 kilometers.
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The bids were published on April 13, 2026, and cover the stretch between kilometers 250.7 and 590.1 of the highway. The initial investment estimated by the Ministry of Transport was R$ 678 million, but the ongoing proposals already exceed R$ 1.3 billion. The project has been discussed in court for about 20 years, with supporters highlighting the logistical importance of the route and critics demanding full environmental licensing instead of being treated as an “improvement” project.
The construction company linked to a convicted former governor
One of the already approved bids was won by the construction company Etam Ltda, which will take over the stretch between kilometers 469 and 590 for R$ 362 million, below the budget estimated by Dnit of R$ 430 million. The company has as managing partner the father of the former governor of Acre, Gladson Cameli, from PP, and was targeted by the Federal Police’s Operation Ptolomeu, which investigated alleged embezzlement in infrastructure works and maintenance of health units and schools in the state.
In May 2026, the Superior Court of Justice sentenced Gladson Cameli, in the first instance, to 25 years and nine months in prison for crimes such as criminal organization, active and passive corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, and bid rigging. The decision is still subject to appeal. In 2023, as a result of the same investigation, Etam had its economic activity suspended for 90 days by the STJ. The report from O Globo stated that it sought Cameli and the company but received no response.
The “asphalt champion” and the second bid
The bid for the stretch between kilometers 433 and 469 was initially won by LCM Construção e Comércio, for R$ 144 million, against an estimated budget of R$ 210 million. The company is known as the current government’s “asphalt champion”: it closed 128 contracts with Dnit in 22 states since the beginning of the term, totaling R$ 8.3 billion, an amount about 25% higher than recorded in the same period of Jair Bolsonaro’s government and almost double that obtained by the second place in the ranking.
After an appeal by competitor Meirelles Mascarenhas, the Ministry of Transport considered the documentation presented by LCM insufficient and suspended the qualification. LCM is under investigation for suspicions of cartel formation, overpricing, criminal organization, and money laundering. The company, founded by Luiz Otávio Fontes Junqueira, denies any irregularities and claims that its operations are guided by “rigorous ethical, legal, and governance principles.”
The legal battle over licensing
The discussion about environmental licensing is the central point of the dispute. Dnit argues that the works are “improvements” to the highway, not new paving, and therefore could be exempt from the full Ibama process, based on a provision of the new General Environmental Licensing Law. The detail is that this provision was vetoed by President Lula himself in August 2025, and later reinstated by Congress, creating the paradox of the government relying on a piece of legislation that the president himself had rejected.
On April 28, 2026, Federal Judge Mara Elisa Andrade, from the 7th Federal Environmental and Agrarian Court of Amazonas, suspended the four auctions in a preliminary decision in response to a lawsuit by the Climate Observatory. The magistrate stated that the agency “cannot be a judge of itself” and ordered Ibama to evaluate the case. Shortly after, the president of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region, Judge Maria do Carmo Cardoso, suspended the injunction and authorized the resumption of the notices, paving the way for subsequent acts by Dnit.
The alert about deforestation and emissions
The environmental concern has an official technical basis. In a technical note from June 2025, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change itself estimated that paving the middle section of BR-319 could result in deforestation up to four times greater in the region, with an additional emission of 8 billion tons of CO2 by 2050, in a scenario capable of making it impossible for Brazil to meet its climate goals.
According to Suely Araújo, coordinator of Public Policies at the Climate Observatory and former president of Ibama, the definitive opening of the road could accelerate land grabbing, irregular occupation, and predatory exploitation of areas still preserved today. There is another delicate point: the Climate Observatory and indigenous organizations claim a lack of prior, free, and informed consultation with affected communities, a requirement of Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization.
The government’s defense and the promised investments
On the other hand, the Lula government argues that the project is essential for the logistical integration of the northern part of the country, especially for the state of Amazonas, which is practically isolated by land today. The president promised the greatest possible environmental care, and government technicians state that the project will include inspection bases, more than 170 animal crossings, 50 bridges, and an environmental control strip over 40,000 square kilometers, an area almost the size of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The president’s trip to Amazonas coincides with preparations for the October election. The PT supports former Deputy Speaker of the House Marcelo Ramos as a candidate for the Senate, while Senator Eduardo Braga, from the MDB, seeks a new mandate and resists the nomination, and Senator Omar Aziz, from the PSD, is the candidate for the state government. Aziz and Braga, historical supporters of the paving, appear alongside Lula in a recent video supporting the project.
Why this issue matters to the CPG reader
For the oil, gas, and infrastructure audience, BR-319 is not just an environmental or political fight. It is an emblematic case of how Brazil discusses infrastructure amid climate pressure, the Legal Framework for Concessions, and an international scenario where the country will host COP30 in Belém. Every decision made on this project helps define how the Brazilian productive sector will be viewed by the world in terms of sustainability.
The discussion also involves the use of federal resources, billion-dollar contracts, and the transparency of public tenders, topics that directly affect trust in infrastructure projects in the country. Closely monitoring BR-319 is, therefore, monitoring a barometer of what may or may not happen with other major projects, both inside and outside the Amazon, in the coming years.
The paving of BR-319 is one of those issues where infrastructure, politics, and the environment intersect equally. On one hand, the promise to remove Amazonas from isolation and meet a historical demand from residents and the productive sector. On the other, concrete warnings of impacts on one of the most preserved areas of the forest and legitimate doubts about the transparency of tenders that involve companies investigated or linked to those convicted in the first instance. The challenge for the coming months will be to find a path that respects the real need for the highway without compromising environmental and legal safeguards.
And you, are you for or against the paving of BR-319 in the middle section of the Amazon? Do you believe it’s possible to carry out this project without compromising the forest, or are the risks too great? Leave your comment, tell us how you see the impasse between development and the environment, and share the article with those interested in infrastructure, politics, and the Amazon.
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