By Arkady Petrov
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “Managing the world’s largest rainforest is a Brazilian affair, and foreigners must stop interfering with the Amazon,” said the Chief Minister of the Gabinete de Segurança Institucional GSI (The Institutional Security Office), General Augusto Heleno, writes Brazilian news outlet Exame in its latest report.
“I do not accept this story that the Amazon is heritage of humanity. That is absolute nonsense”, he said in an interview at the Presidential Planalto Palace. “The Amazon is Brazilian. It is Brazilian heritage and must be dealt with by Brazil, for the benefit of Brazil.”
The General’s speech coincides with the government’s plans to review existing conservation areas amid growing pressure from mining and agriculture lobbies.
President Jair Bolsonaro cancelled a trip to New York after Mayor Bill de Blasio and activists criticized him for issues. These include his stance on the Amazon rainforest, the conservation of which is critical to the climate change debate, according to scientists.