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Brazil’s army fights Amazon fires after hundreds more flare up
PORTO VELHO, Brazil, Aug 26, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Brazil on Sunday deployed
two C-130 Hercules aircraft to douse fires devouring parts of the Amazon
rainforest, as hundreds of new blazes flared up and thousands protested over
the destruction.
Heavy smoke covered the city of Porto Velho in the northwestern state of
Rondonia where the defense ministry said the planes have started dumping
thousands of liters of water, amid a global uproar over the worst fires in
years.
Swathes of the remote region bordering Bolivia have been scorched by the
blazes, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky and increasing air
pollution across the world’s largest rainforest, which is seen as crucial to
mitigating climate change.
Experts say increased land clearing during the months-long dry season to
make way for crops or grazing has aggravated the problem this year.
“It gets worse every year — this year, the smoke has been really
serious,” Deliana Amorim, 46, told AFP in Porto Velho, where half a million
people live.
Seven states, including Rondonia, have requested the army’s help in the
Amazon, where more than 43,000 troops are based and available to combat
fires, officials said.
Dozens of firefighters went to Porto Velho on Sunday to help put out the
blazes. Justice Minister Sergio Moro has also given the green light for the
deployment of security forces to tackle illegal deforestation in the region.
The fires have triggered a global outcry and are a major topic of concern
at the G7 meeting in Biarritz in southern France.
World leaders at the summit have agreed to help the countries affected by
the fires “as fast as possible,” French President Emmanuel Macron said
Sunday.
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had
earlier offered their countries’ assistance.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said Sunday he would accept international
help to combat wildfires raging in the country’s southeast as he suspended
his election campaign to deal with the crisis.
Although about 60 percent of the Amazon is in Brazil, the vast forest also
spreads over parts of eight other countries or territories: Bolivia,
Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Macron’s remarks come amid an escalating war of words with his Brazilian
counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, who he has accused of lying over Brazil’s stance
on climate change.
Bolsonaro has denounced what he calls Macron’s “colonialist mentality.”
– Trade deal at risk –
The fires threaten to torpedo a huge trade agreement between the European
Union and South American countries, including Brazil, that took 20 years to
negotiate.
MORE/MSY/0912 hrs
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BRAZIL-POLITICS-ENVIRONMENT-2-LAST EU Council president Donald Tusk told
reporters at the G7 on Saturday that it was hard to imagine European
countries ratifying a trade pact with the Mercosur bloc as long as Brazil
fails to curb the fires ravaging the Amazon.
Pope Francis on Sunday also voiced concern for the rainforest, which he
described as a “vital” lung for the planet.
Under intensifying pressure, Bolsonaro on Friday vowed a “zero tolerance”
approach to criminal activities in the Amazon and promised strong action to
control the fires.
Days earlier, he had accused non-government organizations of igniting the
blazes after their funding was cut.
“There are forest fires all over the world, and this cannot be used as a
pretext for possible international sanctions,” Bolsonaro said, after issuing
a decree authorizing the deployment of armed forces.
Bolsonaro told reporters Saturday the fires were affecting areas already
cleared, not the remaining forest.
The latest official figures show 79,513 forest fires have been recorded in
Brazil this year, the highest number of any year since 2013.
More than half of the fires are in the massive Amazon basin, where more
than 20 million people live. Some 1,130 new fires were ignited between Friday
and Saturday, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research
(INPE).
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the fashionable Ipanema
neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, after demonstrations across the
country and in Europe on Friday.
Chanting “Bolsonaro leave, Amazon stay”, protesters demanded the
government do more to protect the forest.
“The nature is being destroyed,” Teresa Correa, from the northern state of
Para, told AFP.
“The situation is worse since he (Bolsonaro) became president — he wants
to explore and destroy everything.”
BSS/AFP/MSY/0912 hrs