Macron’s selfie in his Amazon prime (or at least his Sunday best)
JUST days after Emmanuel Macron was pictured in a T-shirt sparring with a punchbag, photos have emerged of him posing in smart shoes and a pristine white shirt in the Amazonian jungle.
The 46-year-old kept up appearances in the first visit to Brazil by a French president in 11 years, after spats with Jair Bolsonaro, the former president, over environmental destruction and insults directed at his wife, Brigitte.
After stopping in nearby French Guiana, where he kept his suit and tie on despite sweltering conditions, Mr Macron kicked off the visit in Belem with the launch of a $1.1 billion Amazonian green investment plan alongside his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Mr Macron then ditched his jacket and tie to take a boat with Mr da Silva to the jungle island of Combu where they met indigenous leaders.
Mr Macron awarded Raoni Metuktire, the tribal chief, with the Legion of Honour, the highest French distinction, for his role as an “international figure in the fight for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the culture of indigenous peoples”.
Mr Metuktire left his home in the Amazon more than 30 years ago to travel the world with his warning of the threats posed by the destruction of the rainforest. The striking figure with his large wooden lip plate and yellow feather headdress, has become a global figurehead for climate change.
At one point the venerable chief, who is thought to be 90, grabbed the microphone to welcome Mr da Silva and Mr Macron, saying he saw them as his “father and son” and urged them to back his bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize.