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
Brazil’s environment minister Ricardo Salles, who has quit, delivers a speech flanked by president Jair Bolsonaro. Photograph: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images
Guardian staff
Wed 23 Jun 2021 19.46 EDT
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.
Those negotiations had stalled, with the last meeting held more than a month ago, according to two sources familiar with the matter, who said it was unclear if the delay was related to Salles.
Salles and president Jair Bolsonaro have been outspoken supporters of development in the Amazon, which critics say has encouraged land grabbing and illegal mining in protected areas.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/24/brazil-environment-minister-quits-amid-inquiry-into-amazon-logging
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