Published 15:08 IST, August 28th 2019
Amazon Fires: Bolsonaro wants apology before accepting $20 Million aid
President Bolsonaro has demanded an apology from French leader Emmanuel Macron before accepting the $20 million international aid to control the Amazon fires.
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Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro has demanded an apology from French President, Emmanuel Macron on August 27 before accepting the $20 million dollars international aid to control the Amazon fires. The Brazilian leader said he had been called a liar and denounced the French leader for questioning Brazil's sovereignty which was unreasonable. During the G-7 summit in France, the world leaders came to an agreement to allocate technical and financial aid to fight the Amazon blazes. French President also indicated that the offer will be near to $22 million along with military support. Along with the G-7 countries, a separate $11 million has been pledged by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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Accusations by President Macron
The amplifying tensions over the Amazon blazes, French President on August 23 accused Brazilian leader to have lied to Macron. Emmanuel Macron also threatened Bolsonaro to block European Union trade deal with Brazil until the fires are in control. Emmanuel Macron further said that President Bolsonaro failed to respect his commitments on climate and lied among the leaders during the Osaka Summit in June 2019 where the world leaders acknowledged the “urgent need” to tackle climate change, pollution, and environmental destruction.
He said, “The decisions and statements from Brazil these recent weeks show clearly that President Bolsonaro has decided to not respect his commitments on the climate, nor to involve himself on the issue of biodiversity.”
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Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar also joined Brazil in the possible economic outcomes for Brazil and its neighbors. Earlier when the fire started in the Amazon basil, President Macron took on twitter to it an "international crisis".
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President Bolsonaro's rejoinder
These statements angered the Brazilian President who felt humiliated on being called a liar. President Bolsonaro also said that the attacks were “unreasonable”. On the international aid offered to Brazil, President used the words, “as if we were a colony or a no man's land”.
Earlier while talking to the journalists, President Bolsonaro also suggested that this aid is West's way of exploiting Brazil's natural sources.
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He said, “Look, does anyone help anyone ... without something in return? What have they wanted there for so long?”
While President Bolsonaro's reaction to Amazon Wildfires was a cause of Global outrage in the past, recently on August 27, the U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on the support of Brazilian leader and said that he is “working very hard for Amazon fires and in all respects”.
Amazon Fires
Since August 22, satellite images have recorded more than 9,500 forest fires mostly in the Amazon Basin which is the world's largest tropical forest. As compared to 2018, there is a hike of 83 percent increase and the highest recorded fires were way back in the year, 2013. Amazon forests are a vital part of the ecosystem with producing 20 percent of the entire earth's oxygen.
(With inputs from AP)
13:34 IST, August 28th 2019