Deforestation in the Amazon has reached record rates in the first six months of Jair Bolsonaro's presidency. Data released by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) shows an increase of 88 per cent deforestation in June this year over June 2018. In the systematic process of illegal deforestation, native trees are cut down, then fires clear pasture, and lastly the lands are sold to wealthy farmers and investors.
The outbreak of fires in the world's largest rainforest is not new, despite the high levels registered this year. What has taken the burning rainforest to front pages across the world is the attitude of the president of Brazil towards the crisis.
When the alarming increase in deforestation rates was brought out, Bolsonaro's first action was to discredit INPE's numbers, and sack the director of the agency, Ricardo Magnus Osório Galvão, who was blamed for 'being a service to an international NGO'. The agency is respected worldwide for its historical data on deforestation. 'Bolsonaro makes false accusations to the highest level of scientists involved in this process, as if he had any qualifications to analyse data,' said Galvão to O Globo.
INPE releases monthly reports from its satellite system on the Amazon deforestation since 2005. At least this was the rule until July 2019. Not surprisingly, deforestation statistics for 2019 have been removed from the INPE website, and now no data from this year is publicly available.
Confronted by the press, Bolsonaro spreads disinformation as he pleases. He dared to point at NGOs that have been working for decades to protect the forest. Proud of having cut federal funding to NGOs, he suggested, without evidence, that they set the fire to revenge him. While he keeps journalists busy with nonsense declarations, no actions are taken to stop the fires. And there is a particular reason for it: Bolsonaro has no interest in stopping the fires. As a declared anti-environment leader, he sees the largest rainforest of the world as a huge potential for investment. He promised to open the region to the development of agribusiness, so the fires consuming the Amazon are just part of the deal.
He also promised to seek 'partnerships with democratic countries like the USA to allow extraction of mineral resources in the Amazon'. And he did. Investigative journalism by The Intercept revealed documents showing American Republican lobbyists in conversations with the Brazilian government to promote corporate investment in the Amazon. Curiously enough,