Brazil’s Amazon Council’s Strategic Plan Links NGOs to Environmental Crimes

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Created by the Bolsonaro administration, the National Council for the Legal Amazon has produced a document providing for the creation of a regulatory framework for NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and continues to have negative repercussions.

An open letter signed by 73 organizations linked to the environment, released on Monday, November 9th, rejects the concept of NGO control in the Amazon.

“It is very serious and revolting to hear that, in official meetings that involve a large number of Ministries, members of the current government explicitly submit proposals that challenge democracy in the country,” points out the letter.

The organizations further criticize the role of the National Council for the Legal Amazon which, according to them, has “virtually no” impact on the defense of the forest.

“The National Council for the Legal Amazon, an inappropriate body with no social involvement and almost no result in the defense of the forest, should present the country with some plan for reducing deforestation, environmental crimes, land grabbing and patch burning. Instead, what we see is the construction of a plan to silence the government’s critics and to stifle democracy,” they point out.

A detailed review of the Council’s document shows how the Bolsonaro government perceives the actions of NGOs. The proposal to create a regulatory framework is a subcategory within a set of actions to “reduce environmental crimes. These actions, in turn, are included in the topic of strategic goals in the area of “increasing the presence of the State”.

Despite the Council’s choice of wording, there are two other goals listed in the document that could better address the issue of NGO’s work: promoting the sustainable use of the Amazon Biome and promoting sustainable socioeconomic prosperity.

According to experts, the selection of the category where NGOs were included demonstrates that the government perceives these institutions as criminal organizations and is investing in increasing the State’s presence to control their activities.

This newly created Amazon Council is headed by Vice President Hamilton Mourão, a retired general and supporter of Amazon mining development. The council’s purpose is to oversee “the activities of all the ministries involved in the protection, defense and development and sustainable development of the Amazon.”

Critics are concerned over Bolsonaro’s militarization of Amazon environmental, development, and security administration, seeing it as a throwback to the days of Brazil’s military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985, when new highways and other grandiose infrastructure projects greatly benefited land grabbers and wealthy landowners.

Source: Veja