'We must fight imperialism': Global Sumud Flotilla's Thiago Ávila takes his fight to Brazil's Congress

For more than two decades, Brazilian socio-environmentalist and Palestine solidarity activist Thiago Ávila has campaigned against what he describes as imperialism, colonialism and the exploitation of people and nature.

Now, after years of activism and high-profile participation in Gaza-bound flotillas, he is taking that political struggle into Brazil's electoral arena.

A member of the Global Sumud Flotilla's steering committee, Ávila has helped organise a movement that expanded from more than 40 vessels in 2025 to more than 70 by May 2026, bringing together hundreds of activists from around the world.

He was also among those detained after the flotilla was illegally intercepted by Israeli forces near Crete on April 30, 2026. Along with Spanish-Swedish activist Saif Abukeshek, he was held without formal charges at the Shikma facility in Ashkelon and deported on May 10, 2026, following international pressure and a hunger strike.

Now, Ávila is running for a seat in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies with the green party REDE in São Paulo.

He says his potential term would bring his activism into parliament, with a particular focus on challenging what he describes as Israeli and Zionist influence over Brazilian policy.

"We believe that our candidacy and possible future term can accomplish an even more expressive role in the struggle for the Palestinian cause, in the fight against imperialism and colonialism," Ávila tells The New Arab.

"One of our key proposals is the rupture of all relations [with Israel]," he continues.

"We intend to establish a term that is vigilant to combat the Zionism lobby in our country, in our political process, and most importantly, in our elections. We are aware that Zionism uses scrutiny times to infiltrate, and that Brazil unfortunately has given in many ways, mostly associated with far-right-wing politicians."

Foreign influence in Brazilian politics

His remarks come days after ABIN, the Brazilian Intelligence Agency, forwarded a report on September 19 to the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), the Presidency of the Republic, and the Ministry of Justice, pointing to the "risk of influence and interference from the United States of America in the upcoming Brazilian electoral process."

The information was released by Folha de S.Paulo and confirmed by O GLOBO. The report comes amid a wider pattern of closer US-Israeli alignment across Latin America, including the creation of the 'Shield of the Americas', a coalition of 18 Latin American countries plus the United States, which excludes Brazil's Lula and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum.

The shift has also been reflected in relations between Israel and governments across the region.

Argentina's president Javier Milei has praised Benjamin Netanyahu and co-signed the 'Isaac Accords', a branch of the Abraham Accords aimed at furthering public diplomacy and cooperation between Israel and Latin American countries.

In Brazil, congresswoman Tabata Amaral of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB-SP) registered bill 1424/26, which supposedly criminalises anti-semitism and includes criticism of Israel as an anti-semitic practice, despite anti-semitism already being a crime in Brazil since 1988.

On September 21, President Lula told CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour that he was "deeply concerned" about possible interference from the United States in Brazil's democratic election process.

As a counterpoint, the United States spokesperson, Amanda Robertson, denied that the United States or its allies had meddled in Brazilian democracy.

Brazilian Zionist backlash

Political candidates who publicly support Palestine and oppose Israel's genocide in Gaza, like Thiago, are commonly attacked by local Zionist organisations.

These include StandWithUs Brazil and the Brazilian Israelite Confederation (CONIB). Journalist Caio Blinder and academic Samuel Feldberg, who are linked to these organisations, have publicly described Ávila as a "professional activist" whose advocacy is motivated by the pursuit of publicity and political gain.

"This sort of attack is not exclusive to Brazil or to me," Ávila explains.

"They attack all those who report on what is done in Palestine, who report on the genocide, and who report on Zionist infiltration in a wide range of countries — similarly to how they attacked United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, and other prominent figures in the debate for Palestinian liberation," he adds. 

"I treat these attacks as part of the process. Threats against me and other advocates have increased dramatically, and our democracy has largely deteriorated due to the influence of Trump and Netanyahu. This is evident in the growing number of far-right leaders occupying positions of power. We must confront these hateful ideologies with all our capacity."

Pathway as a social-environmentalist

Despite support from a significant portion of the Brazilian-Palestinian community and his role in past flotillas to Gaza, Ávila rejects claims that his advocacy for Palestine is motivated by political gain.

He says that, in the electoral process, voters will primarily consider his work as a social-environmentalist rather than his activism in defence of the Palestinian people.

He also adds that his candidacy rests on the intersection of social justice and environmentalism, and rejects claims of appropriation, pointing to the recognition of his advocacy by Palestinian-Brazilian organisations such as the Palestinian Federation and the Palestinian Front of São Paulo.

"I've been an activist for 22 years now, and for 22 years I have been fighting against exploitation, oppression, and the destruction of nature in order to build a 'well-living' society," Ávila tells The New Arab.

"Both environmental disaster and the war machine that profits from genocide originate in the same system. American imperialism, which provides over 80% of the bombs Israel uses in Gaza, is also involved in environmental damage all around the world," he adds. 

"It's not a coincidence that the US military, as an institution, is one of the most prominent sources of pollution for the whole planet," Ávila adds.

"In Brazil, some right-wing state governments, but also certain so-called progressive ones, purchase weapons, espionage software, drones and hypersurveillance technology from Israel's arms industry. These are, logically, tools used for mass exploitation, agricultural deforestation, poaching, mining and many other destructive practices," Ávila tells The New Arab.

"The billionaires who profit from these violations, and those behind the legal frameworks that allow this technology to flow into Brazil and circulate around the globe, are the same."

With elections approaching on October 4, and the country’s sovereignty to choose its own leaders at stake, the open question remains: will Brazilian voters pick their representatives based on the Brazil they want to build for the future, or on the Brazil foreign powers want to build for them?

Rogger Oliveira is a multimedia journalist covering geopolitics and social issues in the Middle East and North Africa. He has a previous background as a translator and interpreter working in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French