RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — President Jair Bolsonaro said Monday that he was eager to talk about the Amazon fires at the UN General Assembly in September, after the matter appears to be undermining support for the representative in Brazil.Before reporters in September Brasilia, the representative noted that he wants to speak “with patriotism” about the Amazon, a region he claimed was ignored by previous governments.
“I will not accept alms from any country in the world under the pretext of preserving the Amazon when it is being divided into parcels and sold,” said the far-right president. HELP US Click the Google News star and follow usThe Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, suggested last week to hold a meeting to specifically address the fires that have ravaged a part of the Brazilian jungle. However, Bolsonaro will not attend a meeting of countries in the Amazon basin scheduled for Friday in Colombia. Otavio Rego Barros, a spokesman for the Brazilian government, said Monday that the representative cannot come because they will operate it from a hernia. Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen during his campaign for the presidency.
The Brazilian Amazon recorded 30,901 fires in August, the largest number for that month since 2010, according to the country’s National Institute of Space Research.
The numbers have provoked international criticism of the way the government addresses environmental issues and its pro-business agenda, and appear to be affecting Bolsonaro’s popularity in Brazil.According to a report monday by pollster Datafolha, 38% of respondents Brazilians disapprove of the government’s actions _ the highest number since the representative was promoted to the position on January 1_ and only 29% of the population supports it. Datafolha interviewed 2,878 people between 29 and 30 August. The survey has a margin of error of 2 percentage points. The ministers of environment, agriculture and defence traveled on Monday to Belem, in the Amazon ianian state of Pará, to talk about the fires in the area. In a statement released Monday, Amnesty International said authorities need to investigate and prosecute those responsible for illegal fires, “because otherwise the situation will inevitably worsen” for the rest of the government Bolsonaroo.
