Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday (September 18) accused countries that criticize his environmental policies of wanting to undermine the strength of the South American giant's agricultural sector, while deforestation and fires continue to ravage the Amazon.
Read also: Jair Bolsonaro as "father of the poor": transient change or real transformation?
“
There are a few fires in Brazil.
This happens every year and we have suffered a lot of criticism, because the more we are attacked, the better it is for our competitors who are eyeing the best we have, our agribusiness
”, said the head of the company. 'State.
The far-right leader was speaking from Sinop, in the Amazonian state of Mato Grosso (center-west), one of Brazil's cereal production centers.
The plane that brought him from Brasilia had to do it twice to land because of visibility problems caused by smoke from the forest fires.
"
The other countries that criticize us have no problem with fire because they have already burned all their forests,
" Jair Bolsonaro insisted.
Criticisms of the French government
He reacted in particular to criticism from the French government, which on Friday renewed its opposition to the agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries in its current form, by pointing out in particular the “
major
”
problem
of deforestation.
On Tuesday, eight European countries, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, sent an open letter to Vice President Hamilton Mourao, head of the Amazon Council, to
express
their "
extreme concern
" to him. to the "
alarming increase
" in deforestation.
Thursday, President Bolsonaro, however affirmed that Brazil is one of the countries which “
preserves the environment better
”.
According to the latest official figures, 1,358 km2 were deforested in the Amazon last month, 21% less than in August 2019. But if we take into account the data collected since January, the decrease is only 5% compared to to 2019, year of all records.
And no less than 68,486 outbreaks of fires have been recorded in the Amazon since the start of 2020, an increase of 13% compared to the same period in 2019.
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