BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL – Noting that the Amazon forest is known for being the “lungs” of the world, Brazilian Economy Minister, Paulo Guedes, believes that Brazil should “charge” other countries for the oxygen they use. Guedes, while visiting Manaus on Thursday, July 25th, defended the concept that the country should create a world oxygen exchange in Manaus.
“We want to know if Americans recognize oxygen ownership. We produce oxygen for the world,” said the minister, while on a visit with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. “We Brazilians are Americans’ natural partners, but we want to know if they recognize the oxygen ownership we produce,” he asked during a presentation on duty-free tariffs and trade in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state.
“With intelligence, we can create wealth with the preservation of the Amazon. There are things here that no one else has,” he said. Guedes also argued that the lack of exploitation of resources is due to the lack of property rights.
President Bolsonaro also responded to concerns by European countries about the management of the natural wealth of the Amazon, by stating: “The President of France (Emmanuel Macron), Ms. (Angela) Merkel (chancellor of Germany) wanted me to come back here (after G20 meeting in June), and start to demarcate another thirty indigenous reserves, expanding environmental reserves. This is a crime.”
Bolsonaro added that he is seeking partnerships with developed nations, and in particular with the United States, for the exploration of Brazil’s Amazon territory.
In April, during a radio interview, Bolsonaro mentioned that during his March visit to the United States he had mentioned to U.S. president Donald Trump that he wanted the United States to take part in a joint development program.
“When I met Trump, I told him, among other things, that I wanted to open the Amazon to be explored in a partnership (Brazil/U.S.),” Bolsonaro said during the interview.
In addition to “selling” oxygen to the rest of the world, Brazil’s federal government promises to finish paving BR-319, a highway which cuts through the Amazon forest, linking Manaus and the neighboring state of Rondonia to the rest of the country.
Inaugurated in 1976 only to be abandoned by federal governments in the 1980s and 1990s, BR-319 has been the subject of controversy due to its poor condition, with many parts closed to traffic, especially during the rainy season. After decades of abandon and millions of dollars spent on clearing land, many stretches of the highway have been invaded by grass and shrubs.
During his 2018 presidential campaign, Bolsonaro took a pro-agriculture and economic development stance for the region and has often criticized interference by foreign governments and international non-governmental organizations.
“The Amazon is ours, not yours,” Bolsonaro said earlier this month to a group of foreign journalists. “You (foreign countries) want to treat Indians as prehistoric beings, and there are Indians who want to work, to produce,” he argued.
Among his campaign promises was stopping new demarcation of indigenous lands, reducing the power of environmental agencies and allowing mining and commercial farming on indigenous reservations.
“More than 15 percent of the country’s territory has been set aside as indigenous land and quilombos (settlements inhabited by descendants of Brazilian slaves). Less than a million people live in these places, isolated from the real Brazil, exploited and manipulated by NGOs. Together we will integrate these citizens,” he said days after taking office in January.
This position has led to widespread criticism among environmentalists and human rights groups, as well as former environmental government officials. In May, eight former environment ministers issued a joint statement warning that too much development and the weakening of environmental laws could lead to disaster.
“Brazil has come a long way to consolidate its environmental governance. We have become a global leader in combating climate change, humanity’s greatest challenge this century. We are also one of the mega-biodiverse countries on the planet, which brings us enormous responsibility for the conservation of all our biomes. There is no development without the protection of the environment,” read the statement.
“We all have our political, ideological, priority differences, but none of us (former ministers) ever dared in our administration to dismantle ICMBio, Ibama, propose the extinction of parks or even the revision of indigenous lands already demarcated and approved,” said former minister Carlos Minc, who led the Environment Ministry during former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s second term in office. “If I had a word to classify this new administration, I would say the word is unsustainable,” he concluded.
With the Bolsonaro government struggling to boost Brazil’s ailing economy, the region may become increasingly attractive to the federal government as a source of revenue. Noting that the Amazon region is the “richest on planet earth”, Bolsonaro states what has become growing belief within his administration: “By joining development with environmental preservation, the region will be the economic soul of Brazil.”