Jair Bolsonaro says 'deceitful' media hyping Amazon wildfires

[Judi Lynn]

In a combative UN address Bolsonaro denied – contrary to the evidence – that the world’s largest rainforest was being devastated

Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent
Tue 24 Sep 2019 12.59 EDT

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has launched a cantankerous and conspiratorial defense of his environmental record, blaming Emmanuel Macron and the “deceitful” media for hyping this year’s fires in the Amazon.

In a combative 30-minute address to the UN general assembly, Bolsonaro denied – contrary to the evidence – that the world’s largest rainforest was “being devastated or consumed by fire, as the media deceitfully says”.

“Our Amazon is larger than the whole of western Europe and remains virtually untouched – proof that we are one of the country’s that most protects the environment,” Bolsonaro claimed.

About 17% of the Amazon has been destroyed over the last 50 years with some scientists fearing the rainforest could reach an irreversible tipping point if that rises to 20% or 25%.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/24/jair-bolsonaro-says-deceitful-media-hyping-amazon-wildfires

[Judi Lynn]

1. Brazilian President Arrives at UN Spoiling for a Fight

September 24, 2019



Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro speaks in Brasilia last Friday. (AP photo/Eraldo Peres)

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been in power for less than nine months, but he’s already had diplomatic spats with France, Germany, China, Norway, Arab nations, Venezuela, Cuba and Argentina.

Now the pugnacious leader is on the world’s biggest diplomatic stage, fighting off international calls for a crackdown on deforestation in the Amazon region that he considers an economic resource for his nation.

“We have to talk about patriotism, sovereignty, what Brazil means to the world,” Bolsonaro said over the weekend, previewing his Tuesday appearance at the annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly, which was preceded by a climate summit and a two-day youth conference to spur action to combat global warming.

“We will not single anyone out, point fingers at any head of state,” Bolsonaro said, a month after his feud with French President Emmanuel Macron over the Amazon included a disparaging comment about Macron’s wife. “The idea is to make a speech that is about who we are, our potential, about what changed in Brazil.”

He vowed not to repeat promises of previous Brazilian leaders to expand indigenous reserves in the rainforest to protect them from development, a move he said would “make Brazil unviable.”

More:
https://www.courthousenews.com/brazilian-president-arrives-at-un-spoiling-for-a-fight/

[Moostache]

2. About as convincing as Frank Drebin...