The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, said on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly that
it is a fallacy to say that the Amazon is a world heritage site”
and that it isn’t the lungs of the Earth.
The Amazon is not being devastated or consumed by fire as the liar press makes you believe,”
said the first of the United Nations General Assembly in his speech.
He also deplored that “another country”
based on the lies of the international press (…) behaved disrespectfully as a colonialist, attacking our sovereignty.”
A number of protesters wearing green T-shirts and a giant Bolsonaro doll and a sign with the legend ” Bolsonaro, a threat to the Earth ” protested in front of the UN during his speech.
The Earth is burning, the Amazon is burning, Bolsonaro is a liar!”
shouted the protesters.
The Brazilian president, a skeptic about climate change that defends commercial exploitation in areas of environmental and indigenous preservation, tries to convince the world that the situation in the Amazon is under control.
But deforestation doubled in the first half of the year, and the fires – mostly caused by farmers and loggers – almost tripled in August compared to the previous year, causing an international crisis.
French President Emmanuel Macron even proposed granting the Amazon an “international status”, an idea that outraged Bolsonaro, who accused him of wanting to restrict Brazil’s sovereignty.
According to official figures, the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon practically doubled between January and August, and this year represents the equivalent of 640,000 soccer fields.