President Jair Bolsonaro’s senior foreign policy adviser tweeted a long English language thread defending Brazil’s record on Amazon deforestation and attacking media coverage
The Brazilian government is pushing back against mounting national and international pressure over its environmental policies as a record number of fires rip through the Amazon rain forest.
Environment Minister Ricardo Salles announced the creation of an Amazon task force in an interview with local news website UOL, while President Jair Bolsonaro’s senior foreign policy adviser tweeted a long English language thread defending Brazil’s record on Amazon Rainforest and attacking media coverage. Meanwhile, house Speaker Rodrigo Maia said congress will set up a panel to study the fires.
Data from the National Institute of Space Research showed an 84 per cent year-on-year increase in forest fires in 2019, many caused by loggers incentivized by the government’s disdain for environmental oversight. While Bolsonaro relishes criticism of his attitude toward the Amazon — jokingly referring to himself as ‘Captain Chainsaw’ — his supporters in the agricultural sector fear a backlash from consumers both in Brazil and abroad.
Germany and Norway have already suspended their contributions to a rain forest preservation fund, and polls indicate that even among Bolsonaro’s own voters there is overwhelming support for stronger measures to…
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