Fire in the Amazon. Brazil finally accepts international aid

After announcing Tuesday, rejecting the $ 20 million aid from the G7 countries to fight the fires of the Amazon rainforest, Brazil has finally decided to accept it provided it decides to use it.

Brazil was finally "open" on Tuesday to financial aid "foreign organizations and even countries" to fight fires in the Amazon provided they control the funds, having rejected the previous day a G7 bid.

"The essential point is that this money, once entered Brazil, does not go against the Brazilian sovereignty and that the management of the funds is under our responsibility," said a spokesman for the presidency, the day after a $ 20 million offer from G7 countries.

This reversal comes as fires have provoked international outrage and threaten an EU-Mercosur free trade agreement negotiated over the last 20 years.

Brazil's sovereignty over the Amazon questioned

Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday morning conditioned the arrival of the G7 aid to the "withdrawal of (his) insults" by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, taking the part of the escalation in the violent controversy opposing Brazil and France.

"Mr. Macron must remove the insults he has made against me ," he said, about his counterpart's accusations that he had "lied" about his environmental commitments.

"At first he called me a liar and then, according to my information, he said that our sovereignty over the Amazon was an open question , " said Jair Bolsonaro before meeting with the governors of the nine states. Amazon.

For this former captain of the army, climateosceptic assumed, the sovereignty of Brazil on its 60% of Amazon, which he calls "our Amazon" , is not negotiable.

Governors supported Tuesday the president on the issue of sovereignty, while calling for international aid for the Amazon.

On the last day of the G7 summit in Biarritz (south-west France), Emmanuel Macron had questioned the advisability of conferring an international status on the Amazon rainforest, in case the leaders of the region take harmful decisions. for the planet.

In his arm wrestling, however, Bolsonaro could count on Donald Trump's "unqualified support ." "He works very hard on fires in the Amazon and, in all respects, does a great job for the Brazilian people , " said the US president.

"Thank you President Donald Trump. We are fighting forest fires with great success. Brazil is and will always be an international reference for sustainable development. The campaign of disinformation against our sovereignty will not work, " responded the Brazilian president on Twitter.

Monday night, Brasilia had rejected the $ 20 million proposed by the G7 to fight fires, advising the French president to deal with "his house and its colonies . "

"Family question"

On Tuesday, General Augusto Heleno, an important member of the government as head of the security services, fired this "France who has no lesson to give anyone" because "everywhere (the French) are gone, they left a trail of destruction, confusion and misery . "

On Monday, Macron described a comment by Jair Bolsonaro on a Facebook post as "extraordinarily disrespectful to (his) wife" .

Questioned Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro confirmed having put himself the comment endorsing this post which showed Brigitte Macron on a very disadvantageous picture. But he refused to address a "family issue" and threatened to cut short his meeting with journalists if they insisted .

The Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho apologized to France after the attacks of Jair Bolsonaro, as many Internet users in Brazil, who expressed their shame, under the keyword #DisculpaBrigitte (Pardon, Brigitte). "Forgive me, forgive me a thousand times," he said in a video on Twitter.

To the French people pic.twitter.com/MWGG1koMbx

"We would like a First Lady like you: smart, smart and really doing something useful for her country," wrote @ 4fraquejada. "But we have the trophy wife of an old idiot who can not hold his tongue . "

However, the president of the far right enjoyed in his quarrels with Paris the unconditional support of the Bolsonarist sphere.

Regional meeting

Peru and Colombia have proposed to the countries of the Amazon region an emergency meeting on 6 September, in Leticia (a city located in the extreme south of Colombia, bordering Peru and Brazil), to coordinate measures protection of the world's largest tropical forest, which besides Brazil and these two countries also extends to Bolivia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

Brasilia responded favorably to this proposal. "Yes, (Mr Bolsonaro) will participate in these activities. South American cooperation is essential in this fight, " said presidential spokesman Rego Barros.

On the ground, the fires progressed again Monday. Some 1,659 new fire starts were recorded in Brazil by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in 24 hours, more than half in the Amazon.

In Porto Velho, the capital of the Amazonian state of Rondônia, a little rain has dissipated fumes, which led many people to consult for breathing difficulties.

Nearly 2,500 men and fifteen planes, including two C-130 Hercules water bombers were mobilized in the Amazon against these fires also severely affecting Bolivia border President Evo Morales.

The latter on Tuesday greeted the G7 emergency aid, while qualifying the contribution of "very small" .

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