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Jair Bolsonaro claims 'profound love' for Amazon rainforest as criticism intensifies
President uses TV speech to criticise ‘disinformation’ about fire crisis, saying it cannot be used as pretext for sanctions
Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent
Fri 23 Aug 2019 21.03 EDT
Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has professed to feeling “profound love and respect” for the Amazon as fires continued to rage in the world’s biggest tropical rainforest and criticism of his environmental policies intensified.
In a televised address to the nation – met with pot-banging protests in several Brazilian cities – Bolsonaro said he was “not content” with the situation in the Amazon and was taking “firm action” to resolve it by deploying troops to the region.
But the rightwing populist played down both the significance of the forest fires that have mushroomed into a major political and environmental crisis – as well as his administration’s responsibility for it.
“Forest fires exist in the whole world and this cannot serve as a pretext for possible international sanctions,” Bolsonaro said in his brief, scripted address.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/24/jair-bolsonaro-claims-profound-love-for-amazon-rainforest-as-criticism-fires-intensifies
