RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The international edition of The New York Times featured on its front page an op-ed by Brazilian Vanessa Barbara, a frequent contributing opinion writer, entitled “The Ravaging of Amazonia”, in which President Jair Bolsonaro is classified as “the smallest, dullest, pettiest” of world leaders.
The op-ed states that the first sign that the Amazon would not have a good year was the resignation of the director of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Ricardo Galvão, after the scientist released alarming data on the deforestation of the Amazon forest in 2019.
“President Bolsonaro considered the disclosure of data as an unpatriotic act and said that Galvão was not a good Brazilian who wanted to serve his country,” criticizes the text signed by Vanessa Barbara, a journalist who contributed to the publication.
The article closes with a bang by saying that “a global treasure like the Amazon lives at the mercy of President Bolsonaro, the smallest, dullest, and pettiest of all leaders.”
The fires in the Amazon have drawn the attention of the international community and were discussed at the G7 Summit, which gathered the heads of state of the United States, Germany, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Canada.
Emmanuel Macron, the summit’s host, declared on Sunday that it is necessary to help the countries of the Amazon in fighting the fires as quickly as possible.
Last Friday, August 23rd, President Jair Bolsonaro signed a decree of Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) authorizing the deployment of the armed forces in the fight against fires.
The deployment of the military will be subject to a request by each state governor, including the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and part of the states of Mato Grosso, Tocantins, and Maranhão. Among these states, only Maranhão and Amapá have not yet requested federal support.