Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday (September 30) condemned on Twitter the “
gratuitous and disastrous
” statements made by Democratic White House candidate Joe Biden, who threatened his country with economic sanctions because of deforestation in the Amazon.
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The far-right leader called the threats "
lamentable
", insisting that
Brazil's
"
sovereignty
" was "
non-negotiable
".
"
As a head of state who has brought Brazil-US relations closer together like never before, after decades of hostile governments to the US, it is really difficult to understand such a disastrous and unnecessary statement,
" the far-right leader wrote on Twitter.
“
What a shame, Mr. John Biden!
What a shame !
"He added in his series of messages, mistaking the first name of the former US vice-president.
During the very heated first televised debate on Tuesday with President Donald Trump - climate skeptic like Jair Bolsonaro - Joe Biden promised if he won to bring together with other countries aid of 20 billion dollars to help the largest country in Latin America to curb deforestation.
“
Here is $ 20 billion.
Stop deforestation.
If you do not do it, there will be significant economic consequences
, "launched the Democratic candidate on Tuesday evening during the debate, prompting an ironic response from the Brazilian Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, on Twitter Wednesday:"
just a question , is Biden's $ 20 billion aid per year?
"
Jair Bolsonaro raised his voice and estimated that Brazil would not accept "
cowardly threats against our territorial and economic integrity
".
“
The greed of some countries towards the Amazon is a well-known fact.
However, the explicit demonstration of this greed by someone who is running for the presidency of his country is a clear sign of contempt for a cordial and fruitful coexistence
”, added the Brazilian president.
"
Devastated forests
"
Ally of the Trump administration, the Bolsonaro government is under international pressure, including from investors worried about the advance of deforestation and the upsurge in fires in the Amazon.
The area of deforested areas in the largest rainforest on the planet increased by 85% year-on-year in 2019, the far-right president's first year in office.
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Over the first eight months of 2020, the deforested area has fallen by only 5% compared to the same period last year, and forest fires continue to rage, in the Amazon and the Pantanal, south of the largest rainforest in the world.
Last week, during his speech to the UN General Assembly, President Bolsonaro denounced "
a brutal disinformation campaign
" on the Amazon and the Pantanal.
He also claimed the fires were started by natives who employed traditional shifting burn techniques, a version refuted by environmentalists and many indigenous leaders, including the iconic cacique Raoni Metuktire.
In Tuesday's debate, Biden, in a favorable position in the polls, vowed that, if elected, the United States would re-accede to the Paris climate agreement.
“
We will join the Paris agreement because, since we left it (by decision of Donald Trump), look at what is happening.
Everything is falling apart.
The tropical forests of Brazil, which absorb more Co2 than the emissions of the United States, are being devastated,
”he said.