Bolsonaro rejects aid to fight Amazon fires over Macron remarks
● Brazil president demands apology from French counterpart
President Jair Bolsonaro said yesterday Brazil will only accept an offer of international aid to fight Amazon fires if French leader Emmanuel Macron retracts comments that he finds offensive.
Mr Bolsonaro said Mr Macron had called him a liar, and accused the French president of questioning Brazil’s sovereignty amid tensions over fires that are burning at record levels in the Amazon rainforest.
Mr Macron has to retract some of his comments “and then we can speak”, Mr Bolsonaro said.
At a summit in France, the Group of Seven nations pledged $20 million (£16m) on Monday to help fight the flames in the Amazon and protect the rainforest, in addition to a separate $12m from Britain and $11m from Canada. But Mr Bolsonaro accused rich countries of treating the region like a “colony” and suggested the West is angling to exploit Brazil’s natural resources.
His chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, told the Globo news website: “Thanks, but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe.
“Macron cannot even avoid a predictable fire in a church that is part of the world’s heritage, and he wants to give us lessons for our country?”
In a diplomatic speech yesterday, Mr Macron called Brazil’s response a “mistake”. He said: “We would happily accept international solidarity, it’s a sign of friendship.”
Mr Macron said the money isn’t just aimed at Brazil but at nine countries in the Amazon region, including Colombia and Bolivia. He added the offer was a sign of friendship, not “aggressiveness”.
France too considers itself an Amazon country via its overseas region of French Guiana.
Amid rising tensions with Mr Bolsonaro over his handling of the Amazon fires and his pursuit of economic growth at the expense of the forest, Mr Macron said: “We respect your sovereignty. It’s your country.”
But he also called the Amazon “the lungs of the planet” and said: “The Amazon forest is a subject for the whole planet.
“We can help you reforest. We can find the means for your economic development that respects the natural balance. But we cannot allow you to destroy everything.”
Other groups are also contributing support for a region whose rainforests are a major absorber of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Earth Alliance,anewenvironmental foundation backed by Leonardo Dicaprio, is pledging $5m in aid, saying the Amazon is one of the “best defences” against climate change.
The funds are widely seen as critical support, but a relatively small amount for dealing with an environmental crisis of such scale.