Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Sunday that &#8220;the worst is yet to come&#8221; with an oil spill that has affected more than 200 beaches on the country&#8217;s coast, VOA news <a href="https://www.voanews.com/">reports</a>. 



&#8220;What came so far and what was collected is a small amount of what was spilled,&#8221; Bolsonaro said in an interview with Record television.



He said he did not know if additional oil would impact his country&#8217;s coastline, but that &#8220;everything indicates that the currents went to the coast of Brazil.&#8221;



Oil slicks have been appearing for three months off the coast of northeast Brazil and fouling beaches along a 2,000 kilometer (1,250 mile) area of Brazil&#8217;s most celebrated shoreline.



Crews and volunteers have cleaned up tons of oil on the beaches.



Officials say it not yet possible to quantify the environmental and economic damage from the oil slicks.



The government on Friday named a Greek-flagged tanker as the prime suspect behind the oil slicks.



The ship Bouboulina took on oil in Venezuela and was headed for Singapore, it said.



The space agency Inpe said Friday there might still be oil at sea being pushed by currents and it could reach the states of Espiritu Santo and Rio de Janeiro in southeast Brazil.

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Brazil’s Bolsonaro Says ‘Worst is Yet to Come’ on Oil Spill

The number of invasions of indigenous lands in Brazil has jumped in the first nine months of President Jair Bolsonaro&#8217;s administration, a Brazilian Catholic Church agency said Tuesday, VOA news <a href="https://www.voanews.com/americas/invasions-indigenous-land-brazil-rise-under-bolsonaro">reports</a>. 



The Missionary Indigenous Council said illegal miners, loggers and tappers of natural resources are involved in most of the invasions.



The council reported at least 160 cases of &#8220;possessive invasions, illegal exploitation of natural resources of damage to heritage&#8221; on indigenous lands in the first nine months of 2019. There were 111 recorded cases for all of last year under conservative President Michel Temer.



The far-right Bolsonaro, who has the support of Brazil&#8217;s powerful agro-business sector, has often complained that indigenous lands cover too much of Brazil and that development there should be easier. Critics say that encourages invaders seeking to exploit them.



Catholic priest Roque Paloschi, who heads the council, said in a press conference that Bolsonaro&#8217;s &#8220;aggressive rhetoric fuels violence against indigenous land and peoples.&#8221;



The council&#8217;s report said 13 of Brazil&#8217;s 26 states reported indigenous lands invasions in 2018. This year that figure rose to 19 states.



Roberto Liebgott, a coordinator of the report, said the current situation is &#8220;more worrying for indigenous peoples than in any previous administration.&#8221;



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><a href="https://media.voltron.voanews.com/Drupal/01live-166/styles/sourced/s3/2019-09/reuters_Brazil_UNGA_Bolsonaro_24sep19.jpg?itok=1ktMXQL-"><img src="https://media.voltron.voanews.com/Drupal/01live-166/styles/sourced_410px_wide/s3/2019-09/reuters_Brazil_UNGA_Bolsonaro_24sep19.jpg?itok=rUkiPbvt" alt="Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, Sept. 24, 2019." width="573" height="379" /></a><figcaption>Brazil&#8217;s President Jair Bolsonaro addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, Sept. 24, 2019.</figcaption></figure>



In his first speech at the United Nations&#8217; General Assembly, a pugnacious Bolsonaro denied his administration works against indigenous peoples, insisting they are being used as a tool by non-profit organizations and foreign powers to violate Brazil&#8217;s sovereignty in the Amazon.



&#8220;Those who attack us are not worried about the indigenous peoples, but about the mineral richness&#8221; of the Amazon rainforest, Bolsonaro said at the U.N.



His pledge to avoid demarcating indigenous land drew criticism from Amnesty International.



&#8220;We will continue calling on the authorities to fulfill their constitutional and international human rights law obligations to demarcate and protect indigenous lands,&#8221; the human rights group said in a statement.

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Invasions of Indigenous Land in Brazil Rise Under Bolsonaro

Brazilians saying that President Jair Bolsonaro is doing a &#8220;bad or terrible&#8221; job rose to 38% from 33% previously, as the government&#8217;s handling of surging fires in the Amazon rainforest divides the country, VOA news <a href="https://www.voanews.com/americas/poll-disapproval-bolsonaro-presidency-jumps-amid-amazon-crisis">reports</a>.
The Datafolha polling institute found that 29% say that Bolsonaro is doing a &#8220;great or good&#8221; job, down from 33% in July, according to the poll published on Monday.
Brazilians who said the Bolsonaro was doing a normal job fell to 30% from 31% previously, within the margin of error.
The poll diverges from the usually equal three-way split between those approving, disapproving and rating normally the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, with his negative numbers gaining an upper hand, said Leonardo Barreto, a partner in Brasilia-based consultancy Capital Politico.
&#8220;Very likely, it&#8217;s the people who were giving the president the benefit of the doubt but are losing patience for some reason,&#8221; Barreto said.
The three factors likely changing Brazilians&#8217; minds are the lack of a major economic recovery, Bolsonaro letting up on his aggressive rhetoric on combating corruption and concerns that his government has lost control over the Amazon, he said.
Datafolha found that 51% of Brazilians thought Bolsonaro had done a bad or terrible job responding to the Amazon fires.
Last month, Brazil&#8217;s space research agency, INPE, revealed that the highest number of forest fires were tearing through the Amazon rainforest since 2010, sparking international outcry demanding that the country do more to protect the world&#8217;s largest tropical rainforest.
Bolsonaro authorized the military to fight the fires after several days of public protests and criticism from world leaders.
For the first time, farmers who voted en masse for Bolsonaro in the election might be reconsidering their support because of the failure to stop criminals setting fires in the Amazon and fears that it could hurt global demand for Brazilian agricultural products, Barreto said.
&#8220;This affects the heart of the Bolsonaro electoral base,&#8221; he said.
The far-right firebrand engaged in a public war of words with French President Emmanuel Macron, who called for more to be done to combat them as Group of Seven wealthy nations met in France.
Bolsonaro ultimately said that he would only accept an offer of $20 million in aid if Macron withdrew &#8220;insults&#8221; against him.
Datafolha found that 66% of Brazilians said that Brazil should accept international aide to combat Amazon deforestation.
The Datafolha institute poll surveyed 2,878 people in 175 towns across Brazil on Aug. 29 and 30 and has a 2% margin of error.

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Poll: Disapproval of Bolsonaro Presidency Jumps Amid Amazon Crisis

Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who was stabbed in the abdomen at a campaign rally a year ago, will undergo surgery next week, his fourth surgical procedure since the attack although doctors say this one carries only a minor risk, Euronews <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/02/brazils-bolsonaro-to-undergo-surgery-next-week-his-fourth-after-stabbing-attack">reports</a>.
Bolsonaro, a former army captain, will spend about 10 days recuperating after the procedure, he said on Twitter. The surgery will treat a hernia that developed following his previous surgeries, said Leandro Echenique, one of the president’s doctors.
“It is common for an hernia to develop where you have had abdominal surgery,” Echenique said. “This is a surgical correction … the president is doing very well health-wise.”
Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, the man accused by prosecutors of stabbing Bolsonaro last September, was acquitted in June after a judge decided that he was mentally unfit.

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Brazil’s Bolsonaro to undergo surgery next week, his fourth after stabbing attack

Fires continue to consume swathes of the normally lush Amazon, killing animals and leading to respiratory illnesses according to the leader of an indigenous group in Brazil&#8217;s Rondonia state, Euronews <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/01/amazon-wildfires-spread-with-72-843-detected-so-far-this-year">reports</a>.
Wildfires raging in Amazon rainforests have jumped this year, with 72,843 fires detected so far by Brazil&#8217;s space research centre INPE, as concerns grow over right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro&#8217;s environmental policy.
The surge marks an 83% increase over the same period of 2018, the agency said on Tuesday (August 27), and is the highest since 2010.
Bolsonaro&#8217;s stance has come under intense scrutiny as images of the burning Amazon have sparked international concern about the consequences for global warming.
Through July, destruction of Brazil&#8217;s rainforest is up 67% compared to the same period a year ago, according to preliminary data released by the country&#8217;s National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Nearly 80,000 fires have been recorded this year through Aug. 24, the highest level since at least 2013, INPE says.

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Amazon wildfires spread, with 72,843 detected so far this year

Boris Johnson has offered money, Pope Francis has called for prayer, and Jair Bolsonaro &#8211; Brazil&#8217;s president &#8211; is sending in the military to fight the fires raging through the Amazon rain-forest, Euronews <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2019/08/26/how-do-you-stop-a-wildfire-euronews-answers">reports</a>.
In a video published this weekend by the Brazilian embassy in the U.S., C-130 Hercules military planes are seen dumping thousands of litres of water over the burning Amazon.
Brazil has dispatched two planes to the Amazon after outcry over the worst forest fires the country has ever seen. Brazil’s Space Research Centre reported an 83% increase in fires compared to a year earlier, and other 80,000 fires in Brazil alone.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Brazilian Air Force deployed C-130 Hercules airplanes today to combat fires in the state of Rondônia, in the Amazon region. Each aircraft has the capacity to transport up to 12,000 liters of water <a href="https://twitter.com/Itamaraty_EN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Itamaraty_EN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/govbr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@govbr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/secomvc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@secomvc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BrazilMissionEU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrazilMissionEU</a> <a href="https://t.co/PpTqUAJJLR">https://t.co/PpTqUAJJLR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmazonFires?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AmazonFires</a>
— Embassy of Brazil in the USA ?? (@BrazilinUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrazilinUSA/status/1165388490865106945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">24 августа 2019 г.</a></blockquote>
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the G7 are close to a deal on solving the Amazon fires and repairing the damage, but the plan has been short on detail so far.
Macron said that G7 leaders had agreed to give $20 million (€17.9 million) in emergency funding to combat fires in the Amazon.
But how should that money be spent? And is it possible to prevent wildfires in the first place?
&#8220;The key to dealing with this is prevention,&#8221; said Nigel Sizer, chief programme officer at the Rainforest Alliance, told Euronews.
&#8220;Once fires have been ignited it is almost impossible to put them out. These fires are in remote locations and they are going to burn until the debris is burned through.&#8221;
<h3>Wood for the trees</h3>
The Amazon did not have a problem with wildfires until human settlement, and research into 8,000 or Amazonian tree species show none of the evolutionary adaptions that are seen in trees that are found on the Savanna, where cycles of burning and regrowth have occurred naturally.
Unlike in wildfires in California or Canada, the Amazon fires are not one single blaze but many small fires &#8211; and all started by humans.
&#8220;What we are seeing here is a bunch of individual fires set by different people around human activity,&#8221; Mikaela Weisse, manager at Global Forest Watch in Washington D.C., told Euronews. &#8220;It is very rare in the Amazon to have a naturally-occurring fire.&#8221;
In Brazil, fires are often started during deforestation, when ranchers and farmers burn debris that is left in the clearing process. These burned out areas tend to be drier and more-flammable, meaning that new fires spread more quickly when they reach them.
The pace of deforestation has increased rapidly under President Bolsonaro, who has openly said that he wants to see fewer restrictions on ranchers, loggers and developers in the Amazon. In July, Brazil’s space agency suggested an increase of almost 90% in deforestation over the last 12 months.
So while military planes dumping water on burning forest may look like its solving the problem, in reality it is only by better enforcement that future fires can be prevented, said Sizer.
&#8220;Ranchers, loggers, land-speculators &#8211; the government needs to make it clear that if they do this, they will go to jail,&#8221;
<h3>Leonardo DiCaprio</h3>
So what of the $20 million promised by Macron, or the cash that has flooded into NGOs in recent weeks from the general public and donors such as Leonardo diCaprio? Well, it certainly won&#8217;t hurt.
The cash, which comes alongside the UK prime minister Boris Johnson&#8217;s pledge of £10m (€11m), comes amidst something of a funding crash for agencies involved in rain-forest protection.
Under Bolsonaro funds for the Brazilian environmental protection agency IBAMA have been cut by 95%, resulting in a €3.8m reduction in funds for fire fighting and exacerbated by the loss of an Amazon Fund from Norway and Germany, according to a recent article by two British academics.
Equally, Bolsonaro has openly admitted that he does not believe in enforcement of illegal logging in the Amazon. He has also said that he does not believe indigenous people &#8211; often the victims of the fires &#8211; should live in the forest, and that they would be better off living in towns and cities.
&#8220;Bolsonaro has made it very clear &#8211; on the record &#8211; that he does not believe in protecting the rainforest,&#8221; said Sizer.
<h3>Next steps</h3>
That&#8217;s a problem, because once forests are gone, they are gone forever. Once burned, forests hold 25% less carbon than unburned forests even after three decades of regrowth, according to research.
Weisse, meanwhile, points out that 8% of global carbon emissions come from forest fires, yet it takes an event like the recent fires in the Amazon to get leaders to talk about it.
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&#8220;It is great to see world leaders rallying around it,&#8221; she said, &#8220;but there&#8217;s not a lot of attention being paid towards forests and land use in general.&#8221;
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</div>

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How do you stop a wildfire?

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned on Monday &#8220;extraordinarily rude&#8221; comments made about his wife Brigitte by his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, VOA news <a href="https://www.voanews.com/americas/macron-condemns-extraordinarily-rude-bolsonaro-insults">reports</a>.
&#8220;He has made some extraordinarily rude comments about my wife,&#8221; Macron said at a press conference when asked to react to statements about him by the Brazilian government.
&#8220;What can I say? It&#8217;s sad. It&#8217;s sad for him firstly, and for Brazilians,&#8221; he added.
On Sunday, a Bolsonaro supporter posted a message on Facebook mocking the appearance of Brigitte Macron and comparing her unfavorably with Brazil&#8217;s first lady Michelle Bolsonaro.
&#8220;Now you understand why Macron is persecuting Bolsonaro?&#8221; he wrote next to an unflattering picture of Brigitte Macron, 65, who is 28 years older than Bolsonaro&#8217;s wife, Michelle.
Bolsonaro replied on Facebook: &#8220;Do not humiliate the guy, ha ha.&#8221;
&#8220;I think Brazilian women will probably be ashamed to read that from their president,&#8221; Macron said. &#8220;I think that Brazilians, who are a great people, will probably be ashamed to see this behavior&#8230;
&#8220;And as I feel friendship and respect towards the Brazilian people, I hope that they will very soon have a president who behaves in the right way.&#8221;

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Macron Condemns ‘Extraordinarily Rude’ Bolsonaro Insults

A war of words between French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazil&#8217;s Jair Bolsonaro ratcheted up this weekend after the latter took a swipe at the French First Lady, Euronews <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2019/08/26/brazil-s-jair-bolsonaro-attacks-macron-s-wife-in-sexist-facebook-post">reports</a>.
Bolsonaro was enraged last week by Macron&#8217;s decision to make the devastating Amazon wildfires a key item on the agenda at the G7 in Biarittz.
On Monday, Macron described Bolsonaro&#8217;s comments as &#8220;extraordinarily disrespectful&#8221;, adding: &#8220;I hope that they (Brazilians) will very quickly get a president who is up to the job.&#8221;
<h3>&#8216;Don&#8217;t humiliate the man&#8217;</h3>
As the leaders of the world&#8217;s most-industrialised nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and U.S. — were in Biarritz for their annual meeting, Bolsonaro liked a Facebook post unfavourably comparing Brigitte Macron, 66 to his third wife, 37.
&#8220;You understand now why Macron persecutes Bolsonaro,&#8221; Facebook-user Rodrigo Andeaca wrote.
Bolsonaro liked the comment and wrote: &#8220;Don&#8217;t humiliate the man — LOL.&#8221;
His post drew the ire of some users and journalists online who denounced it as sexist.
Academic and columnist Debora Diniz said Bolsonaro&#8217;s &#8220;traditional macho sarcasm&#8221; was unleashed because he &#8220;is frightened by the international outcry of the burning of the Amazon.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Bolsonaro is frightened by the international outcry of the burning Amazon. In retaliation to <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EmmanuelMacron</a>, he responded with his traditional macho sarcasm. He compared Michelle Bolsonaro to Brigitte Macron, suggesting that President Macron political statements were &#8220;jealously&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/sxfoKFSbPw">pic.twitter.com/sxfoKFSbPw</a>
— Debora Diniz (@Debora_D_Diniz) <a href="https://twitter.com/Debora_D_Diniz/status/1165416658934128640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">25 августа 2019 г.</a></blockquote>
The Brazilian Youtuber Felipe Neto branded it &#8220;disgusting&#8221; and &#8220;pathetic&#8221;.
&#8220;Can you understand the level? Imagine the president of any serious country doing something like this. Seriously, try to imagine,&#8221; he wrote on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Esperei confirmação pra saber se era real o print. E é.
O Bolsonaro DEBOCHOU DA BELEZA DA ESPOSA DO MACRON COMPARANDO COM A SUA.
Vocês conseguem entender o nível disso? Imaginem o Presidente de qualquer país sério fazendo algo assim. Sério, tenta imaginar.
Que nojo, q patético <a href="https://t.co/ULuYsQOR1h">pic.twitter.com/ULuYsQOR1h</a>
— Felipe Neto (@felipeneto) <a href="https://twitter.com/felipeneto/status/1165440944688246784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">25 августа 2019 г.</a></blockquote>
Asked about the post, a spokesperson for the Brazilian president&#8217;s office told AFP: &#8220;No Comment.&#8221;
<h3>&#8216;An an opportunistic moron&#8217;</h3>
But the attacks continued with Brazil&#8217;s Agriculture Minister Abraham Weintraub labelling the French leader a &#8220;moron&#8221; for opposing the Mercosur trade deal.
Macron said he was against the free trade agreement between Brussels and Brasilia as it is because of environmental concerns including the fires in the Amazonian rainforest.
&#8220;France is a country of extremes. It has produced men like Descartes or Pasteur, but also collaborators&#8221; during World War II,&#8221; Weintraub wrote on Twitter.
&#8220;(Macron) is just an opportunistic moron seeking the support of the French agricultural lobby,&#8221; he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A França é uma nação de extremos. Gerou homens como Descartes ou Pasteur, porém também os voluntários da Waffen SS Charlemagne. País de iluministas e de comunistas. O Macron não está a altura deste embate. É apenas um calhorda oportunista buscando apoio do lobby agrícola francês.
— Abraham Weintraub (@AbrahamWeint) <a href="https://twitter.com/AbrahamWeint/status/1165608907424903168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">25 августа 2019 г.</a></blockquote>
Bolsonaro&#8217;s son, Eduardo, an MP, also got in on the action, addressing a &#8220;message to Emmanuel Macron&#8221; on Friday in the form of a video entitled &#8220;France in crisis — Macron is an idiot.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Recado para o <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EmmanuelMacron</a> :<a href="https://t.co/qVyQ3Kl5ou">https://t.co/qVyQ3Kl5ou</a>
— Eduardo Bolsonaro?? (@BolsonaroSP) <a href="https://twitter.com/BolsonaroSP/status/1164685841370943494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">22 августа 2019 г.</a></blockquote>
On Sunday, he also wrote that Macron &#8220;is under pressure from (French) farmers&#8221; adding: &#8220;it is unfortunate that he has such low conduct. It shows desperation for popularity.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Provavelmente Macron está sofrendo pressão de seus produtores agrícolas, acostumados a cultura protecionista, que não curtiram o acordo Mercosul-UE. Lamentável que ele tenha essa conduta tão baixa. E é fato que isso demonstra desespero por popularidade. <a href="https://t.co/iHJyVmrWAr">https://t.co/iHJyVmrWAr</a>
— Eduardo Bolsonaro?? (@BolsonaroSP) <a href="https://twitter.com/BolsonaroSP/status/1165631932371218432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">25 августа 2019 г.</a></blockquote>
<h3>&#8216;It&#8217;s sad&#8217;</h3>
The French leader replied on Monday during a joint press conference with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on the situation in the Amazon, saying the comments were &#8220;extraordinarily disrespectful to my wife.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s sad. It&#8217;s sad. But it is sad first of all for him and for Brazilians. And so, I think that the women of Brazil are probably ashamed to read that of their president, I think that the Brazilians, who are a great people, are a little ashamed to see this kind of behaviour.
&#8220;As I have a lot of friendship and respect for the Brazilian people, I hope very quickly that they will get a president who is up to the job,&#8221; he added.
He also said that no French ministers would insult a foreign leader in such a manner.

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Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro attacks Macron’s wife in ‘sexist’ Facebook post

Amid global concern about raging fires in the Amazon, Brazil&#8217;s government complained Thursday that it is being targeted in smear campaign by critics who contend President Jair Bolsonaro is not doing enough to curb widespread deforestation, VOA news <a href="https://www.voanews.com/americas/global-worry-over-amazon-fires-escalates-bolsonaro-defiant">reports</a>.
The threat to what some call “the lungs of the planet” has ignited a bitter dispute about who is to blame during the tenure of a leader who has described Brazil&#8217;s rainforest protections as an obstacle to economic development and who traded Twitter jabs on Thursday with France&#8217;s president over the fires.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the wildfires an international crisis and said the leaders of the Group of 7 nations should hold urgent discussions about them at their summit in France this weekend.
“Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest, the lungs which produces 20% of our planet&#8217;s oxygen is on fire,” Macron tweeted.
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<div><img src="https://media.voltron.voanews.com/Drupal/01live-166/styles/sourced_410px_wide/s3/2019-08/AP_19234696774486.jpg?itok=eSGucdtH" alt="This satellite image provided by NASA shows the fires in Brazil on Aug. 20, 2019. As fires raged in the Amazon rainforest, the government denounced critics who say President Jair Bolsonaro is not doing enough." width="410" height="295" /></div>
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</div><figcaption>This satellite image provided by NASA shows the fires in Brazil on Aug. 20, 2019. As fires raged in the Amazon rainforest, the government denounced critics who say President Jair Bolsonaro is not doing enough.</figcaption></figure>
Bolsonaro fired back with his own tweet: “I regret that Macron seeks to make personal political gains in an internal matter for Brazil and other Amazonian countries. The sensationalist tone he used does nothing to solve the problem.”
Onyx Lorenzoni, the president&#8217;s chief of staff, earlier in the day accused European countries of exaggerating environmental problems in Brazil in order to disrupt its commercial interests.
“There is deforestation in Brazil, yes, but not at the rate and level that they say,” said Lorenzoni, according to the Brazilian news website globo.com.
His allegation came after Germany and Norway, citing Brazil&#8217;s apparent lack of commitment to fighting deforestation, decided to withhold more than $60 million in funds earmarked for sustainability projects in Brazilian forests.
The debate came as Brazilian federal experts reported a record number of wildfires across the country this year, up 84 percent over the same period in 2018. Satellite images show smoke from the Amazon reaching across the Latin American continent to the Atlantic coast and Sao Paulo, Brazil&#8217;s biggest city, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted: “In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected.”
Federal prosecutors in Brazil&#8217;s Amazon region launched investigations of increasing deforestation, according to local media. Prosecutors said they plan to probe possible negligence by the national government in the enforcement of environmental codes.
Bolivia is also struggling to contain big fires, many believed to have been set by farmers clearing land for cultivation.
Bolsonaro said there was a “very strong” indication that some non-governmental groups could be setting blazes in retaliation for losing state funds under his administration. He did not provide any evidence.
Bolsonaro, who won election last year, also accused media organizations of exploiting the fires to undermine his government.
“Most of the media wants Brazil to end up like Venezuela,” he said, referring to political and economic turbulence in the neighboring South American country.
London-based Amnesty International blamed the Brazilian government for the fires, which have escalated international concern over the vast rainforest that is a major absorber of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The rights group this year documented illegal land invasions and arson attacks near indigenous territories in the Amazon, including Rondonia state, where many fires are raging, said Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty&#8217;s secretary general.
“nstead of spreading outrageous lies or denying the scale of deforestation taking place, we urge the president to take immediate action to halt the progress of these fires,” Naidoo said.
The WWF conservation group also challenged Bolsonaro&#8217;s allegations about NGOs, saying they divert “the focus of attention from what really matters: the well-being of nature and the people of the Amazon.”
Brazil contains about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, whose degradation could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall. Bolsonaro, who has said he wants to convert land for cattle pastures and soybean farms, won office after channeling outrage over the corruption scandals of the former government.
Filipe Martins, an adviser to Bolsonaro, said on Twitter that the Brazilian government is committed to fighting illegal deforestation and that many other countries are causing environmental damage.
The Amazon will be saved by Brazil and not “the empty, hysterical and misleading rhetoric of the mainstream media, transnational bureaucrats and NGOs,” Martins said.
Sergio Bergman, Argentina&#8217;s environment minister, appealed for people to overcome political or ideological divisions to protect the environment. He spoke at a five-day U.N. workshop on climate change in Brazil&#8217;s northern state of Bahia.
“We all, in a way, understand that it is not possible to keep using natural resources without limits,” Bergman said.

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Global Worry Over Amazon Fires Escalates; Bolsonaro Defiant

President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday removed several members of a commission investigating disappearances and murders during Brazil&#8217;s dictatorship, acting days after they confronted him on the role played by the state in the killing of a leftist activist, VOA news <a href="https://www.voanews.com/americas/bolsonaro-targets-commission-political-disappearances">reports</a>.
A decree co-signed by Bolsonaro&#8217;s human rights minister and published in official records announced the replacement of four of the commission&#8217;s seven members, including its president, Eugenia Augusta Gonzaga.
Bolsonaro has faced intense criticism, including from allies, this week after he questioned the circumstances in which Fernando Santa Cruz, a leftist activist during the 1964-1985 military regime and father of the current president of the Brazilian Bar Association, was slain.
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<div><img src="https://media.voltron.voanews.com/Drupal/01live-166/styles/sourced/s3/2019-08/AP_19213762517166.jpg?itok=WjMSjiVg" alt="Eugenia Augusta Gonzaga, former president of a commission investigating crimes committed during the Brazil's dictatorship, gives a press conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug. 1, 2019." width="3527" height="2430" /></div>
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</div><figcaption>Eugenia Augusta Gonzaga, former president of a commission investigating crimes committed during the Brazil&#8217;s dictatorship, gives a press conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Aug. 1, 2019.</figcaption></figure>
On July 24, the commission published an official obituary for Santa Cruz. It stipulates that his death in 1974 was &#8220;violent, caused by the Brazilian State, in the context of the systematic and generalized persecution&#8221; of political activists during the dictatorship.
A few days later, without providing evidence, Bolsonaro said while getting a haircut that Santa Cruz had been killed by a &#8220;terrorist group,&#8221; Acao Popular. Bolsonaro told journalists that if the president of the Brazilian Bar Association wanted to know how his father died: &#8220;I&#8217;ll tell him.&#8221;
Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain, has often praised the military regime and minimized abuses committed by that regime.
In 2016, when voting to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, who was a victim of torture by the military regime, Bolsonaro dedicated his vote to a colonel who led a torture unit. &#8220;In memory of Col. Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, the terror of Dilma Rousseff, I vote yes,&#8221; said the then-lawmaker.
After being elected president last Oct. 28, Bolsonaro named several ex-generals to his Cabinet. He also called for the commemoration of the anniversary of Brazil&#8217;s 1964 military coup, leading federal prosecutors to condemn an &#8220;apology for the practice of atrocities.&#8221;
In 2014, Brazil&#8217;s national truth commission concluded that at least 434 people were killed or disappeared during the dictatorship. It is estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 people were illegally arrested and tortured. Bolsonaro called the report &#8220;unfounded.&#8221;
Changing times
To justify the changes made Thursday at the commission, Bolsonaro said times are changing in Brazil.
&#8220;The motive [is that the] president has changed, now it is Jair Bolsonaro, of the right,&#8221; he told reporters. &#8220;When they put terrorists there, nobody said anything.&#8221;
Bolsonaro and human rights minister Damares Alves appointed Marco Vinicius de Carvalho, one of Alves&#8217; top advisers, as the commission&#8217;s new leader. The decree gave seats on the body to a member of the Ministry of Defense, which already had a seat on the commission, and a former army colonel.
At a news conference in Sao Paulo following her dismissal as the body&#8217;s president, Gonzaga described Bolsonaro&#8217;s mocking of official documents around the death of Santa Cruz &#8220;cruel.&#8221;
She said members of the commission had been expecting to be replaced since the election for their &#8220;prominent role in defending&#8221; victims of the dictatorship.
&#8220;For us, this destitution was a response to our manifestations, defending the rights of the Santa Cruz family and others,&#8221; Gonzaga said.
&#8216;Nonpartisan&#8217; commission
She also insisted that the commission, which began in 1995, is not a government body, like ministries, which change with each new government.
&#8220;The commission has always been nonpartisan, always including people who have some connections with this theme, and they are not paid,&#8221; she told a crowd of journalists and families of victims of the dictatorship.
Felipe Santa Cruz, son of Fernando Santa Cruz, filed a complaint Wednesday to Brazil&#8217;s top court about the president&#8217;s comment on the case. Santa Cruz, who was 2 when his father went missing, wrote that Bolsonaro&#8217;s comments showed &#8220;cruelty and a lack of empathy.&#8221;
According to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, supreme court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso gave Bolsonaro 15 days to clarify his statements about Santa Cruz. The supreme court was not immediately available to confirm.

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Bolsonaro Targets Commission on Political Disappearances

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday he had invited his son Eduardo to become ambassador to the United States, underscoring his family&#8217;s influential role in the country&#8217;s diplomacy and domestic politics, VOA news <a href="https://www.voanews.com/americas/brazils-bolsonaro-offers-his-son-post-ambassador-washington">reports</a>.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, currently a federal congressman, told reporters separately he would accept the role if nominated. His father said earlier that the appointment would hinge on his son&#8217;s acceptance.
&#8220;If it is a mission given by the president, I would accept,” Eduardo Bolsonaro told reporters, adding he was prepared to resign from Congress if the president appoints him. He added the ultimate nomination still depended on conversations with his father and Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo.
The appointment would need to be approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before passing to the full upper house for confirmation.
Brazil&#8217;s previous ambassador to Washington retired in April. The far-right Brazilian president, who said his campaign last year was inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump, has made friendly overtures to the American leader and made similar use of family members as official advisers.
Bolsonaro&#8217;s eldest son, Flavio, is advancing his conservative social agenda as a senator.
Carlos Bolsonaro, another son of the president and a Rio de Janeiro city councilman, has taken a role in his father&#8217;s social media communications and stirred controversy by attacking members of the Brazilian Cabinet.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, the third of the president&#8217;s four sons and a daughter from three marriages, has counseled his father on foreign affairs.
After his father&#8217;s election in October, Eduardo Bolsonaro was one of his first envoys to Washington, where he met with Trump&#8217;s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, and was spotted wearing a &#8220;Trump 2020&#8221; cap.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon named the younger Bolsonaro the Latin American leader of his right-wing nationalist organization, &#8220;The Movement.”
During the Brazilian leader&#8217;s White House visit in March, Trump heaped praise on Eduardo Bolsonaro, who sat by his father during an Oval Office chat while Brazil&#8217;s foreign minister and ambassador in Washington were nowhere to be seen.

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Brazil’s Bolsonaro Offers His Son the Post of Ambassador in Washington

Brazil&#8217;s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is among the least popular since the country&#8217;s return to democracy three decades ago, but his rating in a poll released on Monday showed his numbers stabilizing, VOA news <a href="https://www.voanews.com/americas/poll-brazil-presidents-approval-rating-among-worst-return-democracy">reports</a>.
The Datafolha polling institute found that 33% of respondents said Bolsonaro was doing a &#8220;great or good&#8221; job. That is technically tied with the 32% in an April Datafolha poll.
Those who think Bolsonaro is doing a &#8220;bad or awful&#8221; job rose to 33% from 30% in the April poll.
The latest polls show Bolsonaro technically tied with former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso as the leader with the least support at this point in his first term. Thirty-four percent of those asked by Datafolha in June 1995 thought Cardoso was doing &#8220;good or great.&#8221;
The poll of 2,086 people across Brazil on July 4-5 has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Bolsonaro easily won last year&#8217;s election over leftist rival Fernando Haddad, who stepped in to take the top place on the Workers Party ticket after a graft conviction prevented imprisoned former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running. Datafolha polls last year showed Lula far more popular than Bolsonaro &#8211; even after he had been imprisoned.
Lula&#8217;s conviction has come under scrutiny since the publication of leaked messages last month by news website The Intercept Brasil showed former federal judge and current Justice Minister Sergio Moro stepping over ethical, and possibly legal, lines by coaching the prosecution in Lula&#8217;s trial.
Moro, who presided over the case and found Lula guilty, has alternatively argued that the leaked messages show no improper behavior to questioning their authenticity, is facing withering criticism.
On Monday, Moro&#8217;s press office said he would take the week of July 15-19 off for &#8220;personal&#8221; reasons, and later added he was spending time with his family. Moro&#8217;s wife and children do not live with him in the capital. July is winter recess for schools in Brazil.
In August the Supreme Court is expected to weigh an appeal from Lula&#8217;s legal team, demanding his release from jail.
Lula has been convicted in a second graft trial and faces at least eight more.

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Poll: Brazil President’s Approval Rating Among Worst Since Return to Democracy