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Brazil environment minister quits amid inquiry into illegal Amazon logging
Also: Brazil environment minister resigns amid investigation (Agence France-Presse)
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Source: The Guardian
Brazil environment minister quits amid inquiry into illegal Amazon logging
As talks with US over protecting the rainforest stall, Ricardo Salles faces a criminal investigation
Guardian staff
Thu 24 Jun 2021 00.46 BST
Brazil’s environment minister has quit amid a criminal investigation into whether he obstructed a police inquiry into illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest.
A supreme court justice authorised the investigation of Ricardo Salles after federal police raids targeted the minister and other officials alleged to have allowed illegal wood exports.
“I understand that Brazil throughout this year and next on the international stage and also in the national agenda needs to have a strong union of interests,” Salles told reporters in Brasília on Wednesday. “So that this can be done in the most serene manner possible, I submitted my resignation.”
The outgoing minister had acted as lead negotiator for Brazil in talks with the US over funding to preserve the Amazon rainforest, where deforestation has surged since rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019.
-snip-
As talks with US over protecting the rainforest stall, Ricardo Salles faces a criminal investigation
Guardian staff
Thu 24 Jun 2021 00.46 BST
Brazil’s environment minister has quit amid a criminal investigation into whether he obstructed a police inquiry into illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest.
A supreme court justice authorised the investigation of Ricardo Salles after federal police raids targeted the minister and other officials alleged to have allowed illegal wood exports.
“I understand that Brazil throughout this year and next on the international stage and also in the national agenda needs to have a strong union of interests,” Salles told reporters in Brasília on Wednesday. “So that this can be done in the most serene manner possible, I submitted my resignation.”
The outgoing minister had acted as lead negotiator for Brazil in talks with the US over funding to preserve the Amazon rainforest, where deforestation has surged since rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/24/brazil-environment-minister-quits-amid-inquiry-into-amazon-logging
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Source: Agence France-Presse
Brazil environment minister resigns amid investigation
Issued on: 23/06/2021 - 23:38
Modified: 23/06/2021 - 23:36
Brasília (AFP)
Brazil's controversial environment minister, Ricardo Salles, announced his resignation Wednesday, just over a month after the Supreme Court ordered an investigation into allegations he was involved in a timber trafficking scheme.
"I have presented my resignation to the president, which he accepted," Salles, 46, told a news conference at the presidential palace in Brasilia.
Salles, one of the most divisive figures in far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's government, has presided over a surge in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and major cuts to environmental protection programs since taking office in January 2019.
The minister had faced even greater scrutiny since May 19, when a Supreme Court justice ordered an investigation into allegations that he and top officials in his ministry helped companies traffic illegally logged rainforest wood to Europe and the United States.
-snip-
Issued on: 23/06/2021 - 23:38
Modified: 23/06/2021 - 23:36
Brasília (AFP)
Brazil's controversial environment minister, Ricardo Salles, announced his resignation Wednesday, just over a month after the Supreme Court ordered an investigation into allegations he was involved in a timber trafficking scheme.
"I have presented my resignation to the president, which he accepted," Salles, 46, told a news conference at the presidential palace in Brasilia.
Salles, one of the most divisive figures in far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's government, has presided over a surge in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and major cuts to environmental protection programs since taking office in January 2019.
The minister had faced even greater scrutiny since May 19, when a Supreme Court justice ordered an investigation into allegations that he and top officials in his ministry helped companies traffic illegally logged rainforest wood to Europe and the United States.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210623-brazil-environment-minister-resigns-amid-investigation