While severe forest fires still rage in the Amazon, the environmental catastrophe also creates diplomatic tensions. As French President Emmanuel Macron wants to put the fires on the agenda at the G-7 summit in Biarritz as an international matter, Brazil’s ultra-right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro accused the French on Thursday of „colonialist mentality.“
Bolsonaro said he is banning foreign advice to Brazil’s leaders. „The Brazilian government remains open to dialogue based on objective data and mutual respect,“ President Jair Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
„The suggestion of the French president to discuss the problems of the Amazon at the G-7 summit, without involving the countries of the region, suggests, however, a colonialist way of thinking“, Bolsonaro railed. Macron wrote on Twitter: „Our house is on fire. Literally. “
He shared a photo of a burning rainforest. The fires meant an international crisis, Macron continued. He called on leaders of leading industrialized nations to discuss „this emergency“ as the first item in the G-7 Summit, which will take place on Saturday.
„Internal Affairs of Brazil“
„I am sorry that President Macron is trying to instrumentalize an internal affair of Brazil and other countries of the Amazon region for their own political advantage,“ Bolsonaro wrote in his tweet. „The sensational tone with which he refers to the Amazon does not solve the problem.“
He also accused Macron of having used a wrong image for his posting. In fact, the photo does not show the current fires and is already a few years old. It comes from the US photographer Loren McIntyre, who died in 2003. In the current debate, the picture is often posted, most recently by Hollywood star and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio. In addition to DiCaprio many other stars called to act and fight the fires – including the singer Ariana Grande, actress Zoe Kravitz to supermodel Gigi Hadid.
UNO is concerned
In a Facebook live video, Bolsonaro said that those countries that donated to the preservation of the rainforest did not do so from „charity“ but to intervene in Brazil’s sovereignty.
Following the global outcry over the fires in the Amazon region, the United Nations also emphasized the importance of intact forests. „Preserving the forest is crucial to our fight against climate change,“ said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The United Nations was concerned about the situation in the area and the damage already caused.
Fire spread quickly
Meanwhile, the Brazilian judiciary initiated preliminary investigations into the fires. In the state of Para should be examined why the farmers announced the „Day of the fire“ was not prevented a week ago, said the prosecutor on Thursday. According to media reports, farmers in the southwest of Para had recently set fire to large areas along a country road in a coordinated action to make room for new grazing land.
In Brazil, the heaviest forest fires are raging for years now. The exact extent is difficult to grasp. According to the Brazilian space research institute INPE, nearly 2,500 new fires broke out in Brazil within 48 hours. Accordingly, there have been more than 75,000 forest fires since the beginning of the year – an increase of 84 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The main reason according to science is forest clearance. In most cases, privately owned land was affected, but also in nature reserves and indigenous lands fire always break out.
The „Fridays for Future“ movement initiated by the young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg accused Bolsonaro of contributing to the fires with his environmental policy. His government sees the Amazon rainforest merely as a „dairy cow“ and prey on it. Under the slogan „SOS Amazonas“, the movement called for demonstrations on Friday in front of diplomatic representations of Brazil around the world.
Prosecutor wants to act
Bolsonaro had recently spread that environmentalists had set fires to attract attention and put his government in a bad light. „Anyone could be behind the forest fires,“ but the main suspects come from NGOs, „the president added.
The prosecutor now wants to track down those responsible. „For the federal prosecutor, the fight against illegal deforestation is a matter of state and not a specific government policy,“ it said in the statement of investigators. „The fight against deforestation and slash-and-burn is not an option for public authorities. It is their duty. „Meanwhile, Ecuadorian leader Lenin Moreno offered Bolsonaro to send firefighters to fight the forest fires.
