What was arguably most impressive about this historic win was the apparently mismatched nature of the contest: on one side were about 1,000 local river defenders, mostly from the Munduruku, Arapiun and Apiaká peoples, and on the other were some of the most powerful forces of global capitalism and climate breakdown.

It has been barely a month since the US military launched an attack across the border in Venezuela, its first overt strike on an Amazon nation. That was carried out with the clear intention of securing resources – in that case, primarily oil – and to impose US business dominance in the region.

Undaunted, the activists in Santarém took on one of the US powerhouses of world trade. Cargill generates revenues of more than $160bn (£119bn) a year, employs 155,000 people and accounts for more than 70% of the soy and maize shipped through Santarém.