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Bolsonaro has blessed 'brutal' assault on Amazon, sacked scientist warns
Source: The Guardian
Bolsonaro has blessed ‘brutal' assault on Amazon, sacked scientist warns
In interview with the Guardian, Ricardo Galvão says if the far-right leader doesn’t change tack the Amazon will be ruined
Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent
Fri 9 Aug 2019 10.00 BST First published on Fri 9 Aug 2019 06.00 BST
Illegal loggers are ramping up a “brutal, fast” assault on the Brazilian Amazon with the blessing of the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, the sacked head of the government agency tasked with monitoring deforestation has warned.
Speaking to the Guardian five days after his dismissal, Ricardo Galvão said he was “praying to the heavens” the far-right leader would change tack before the Amazon – and Brazil’s international reputation as an environmental leader – were ruined.
“What is happening is that this government has sent a clear message that there will not be any more punishment [for environmental crimes] like before … This government is sending a very clear message that the control of deforestation will not be like it was in the past …. And when the loggers hear this message that they will no longer be supervised as they were in the past, they penetrate [the rainforest],” Galvão said, claiming “enormous” damage had already been done since Bolsonaro took power in January.
“It is a question of brutal, fast economic exploitation.”
Galvão, an internationally respected scientist, was director of Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) until last week when a public clash with Bolsonaro cost him his job.
-snip-
In interview with the Guardian, Ricardo Galvão says if the far-right leader doesn’t change tack the Amazon will be ruined
Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent
Fri 9 Aug 2019 10.00 BST First published on Fri 9 Aug 2019 06.00 BST
Illegal loggers are ramping up a “brutal, fast” assault on the Brazilian Amazon with the blessing of the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, the sacked head of the government agency tasked with monitoring deforestation has warned.
Speaking to the Guardian five days after his dismissal, Ricardo Galvão said he was “praying to the heavens” the far-right leader would change tack before the Amazon – and Brazil’s international reputation as an environmental leader – were ruined.
“What is happening is that this government has sent a clear message that there will not be any more punishment [for environmental crimes] like before … This government is sending a very clear message that the control of deforestation will not be like it was in the past …. And when the loggers hear this message that they will no longer be supervised as they were in the past, they penetrate [the rainforest],” Galvão said, claiming “enormous” damage had already been done since Bolsonaro took power in January.
“It is a question of brutal, fast economic exploitation.”
Galvão, an internationally respected scientist, was director of Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) until last week when a public clash with Bolsonaro cost him his job.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/09/bolsonaro-blessed-brutal-assault-rainforest-sacked-scientist-warns