Brazil environment minister quits; faces illegal logging probe

BRASILIA, (Reuters) Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles quit yesterday, facing a criminal investigation of whether he obstructed a police probe of illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest. A Supreme Court justice authorized the investigation of Salles this month after federal police raids targeted the minister and other officials alleged to have allowed illegal wood exports.

"I understand that Brazil throughout this year and next on the international stage and also in the national agenda needs to have a strong union of interests," Salles told reporters in Brasilia. "So that this can be done in the most serene manner possible, I submitted my resignation."

The outgoing minister had acted as lead negotiator for Brazil in talks with the United States over funding to preserve the Amazon rainforest, where deforestation has surged since right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019.