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After stating that he would disclose the list of countries that buy illegal wood from Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro (without a party) took a step back and said that he would name foreign companies that would be importing the material irregularly.
“We are not going to accuse any country of committing a crime or conspiring with a crime, but we have names of companies that do this and could be helping us fight this crime,” Bolsonaro said during a weekly live broadcast on social media.
The president has not yet revealed the names of the companies that would be involved in the illegal practice. When asked by journalist Augusto Nunes if the police know what is the “amount of illegally extracted wood bought by French companies”, Bolsonaro classified the European country as a “competitor of raw materials” and added:
“The big problem for us to advance in the agreement of the European Union with Mercosur is precisely France. We are doing our best, but France, in its own defense, hinders us in this regard.”
The Navy will make barriers, says Bolsonaro
“We have the amount of wood that is exported per year,” Bolsonaro began. “Only in this context, we see that not everything leaves the management area. The Brazilian Navy will enter the scene because all the illegal wood leaves by river. Barriers can be built and the movement of that wood can be controlled: whatever is legal happens “.
For Bolsonaro, as soon as Brazil reaches a “good end in this matter”, deforestation will decrease drastically. “It is what we want.”
The information would have been obtained from a search by the Federal Police. During the live show, together with Bolsonaro, delegate Saraiva explained that the method to discover the origin of wood uses three different technologies: stable isotopes, a kind of DNA that shows the geographical origin of the products, in addition to DNA and the chemical signature From the wood. .
“Economic game”
Bolsonaro defined the criticism he has been receiving as a “great economic game.” According to the president, the countries want to reach Brazil because it is an agro-industrial power. “They definitely want to reduce competition. This makes domestic commodity trading even easier.”
The president stressed that in 2021 England will hold the United Nations Summit on Climate Change. “It is the business card that England presents. There will be politics in addition to that and Brazil is the country that suffers the most from this.”
Friction with foreign countries
The day before yesterday, during the BRICS summit, President Bolsonaro had threatened to hand over a list of countries that buy illegal timber. A movement that can further deepen the diplomatic crisis with European countries.
The environmental issue is the biggest diplomatic friction point between the Brazilian government and other countries. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron called the burning in the Amazon an “international crisis” that sparked Bolsonaro’s fury. Germany, which is one of the largest donors to the Amazon Fund, froze the transfer along with Norway.
Bolsonaro wants to use this list to blame these countries for deforestation in Brazilian forests. “In the next few days we will be revealing countries that have imported illegally extracted wood from the Amazon. And some of these countries are the severest critics of my Government with respect to this Amazon region,” said the president. Because then we will be showing that these countries, some of them that criticize us a lot, partly have responsibility in this matter ”.
However, Bolsonaro ignores that his government has reduced compliance with illegal timber sales. According to Folha, two internal offices of the president of Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), Eduardo Fortunato Bim, increased the recirculation of illegal wood in Brazil and expanded the possibilities of irregular export of wood from threatened species. extinction.
Vice President Hamilton Mourão tried to soften Bolsonaro’s threat, saying it was referring to “foreign companies” and not nations. It is not the country, it is the company. The president made it clear that they are the companies, he makes it very clear, ”said Mourão, who coordinates the Amazon Council.
That same day, Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL) released images that, according to him, show the wood illegally extracted from Brazil. You can see the names of seven countries: Belgium, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Portugal, and Italy.
“As the majority go to Europe, where many countries are concerned about the deforestation of Brazilian forests, we hope they will cooperate strongly to avoid the purchase of these materials,” the deputy wrote on social media.
An Archimedes operation of the Federal Police launched in 2017 seized 120 containers with 2,400 m³ of illegally extracted wood that would be sold to Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
International pressure
Federal Government policy in the Amazon region has generated pressure from countries like France. In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron directly accused Bolsonaro, which created tension in the relationship between the governments.
The issue arose with the election of Joe Biden to the presidency of the United States. Although he did not congratulate and acknowledge the victory of the Democrat, Bolsonaro has referred to the change in the White House with concern about the pressures that Brazil may suffer from the new US government, which has as one of its main flags the preservation and environmental growth . sustainable.
“States committed and also acting on the issue of carbon emission. A very particular issue in Brazil given the unjustified attacks that we have suffered with respect to the Amazon region,” Bolsonaro said in the Summit speech.
During the campaign in the United States, Joe Biden suggested that he could allocate 20 billion dollars to investments to protect the Amazon, with some conditions. President Bolsonaro did not approve of the idea, but Brazil’s ambassador Nestor Forster to the United States said it would be a welcome help.
In that debate on September 30, Biden also said there would be economic retaliation if Bolsonaro continued to allow the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Until September 2020, the Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) registered 76,030 fire points in the Amazon. It is more than in almost all previous years.
