Bolsonaro responds to Biden's plans on Amazon

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday attacked U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden for saying South American nation should suffer "significant ecomic consequences" if devastation of Amazon rainforest continues.

Biden said during Tuesday's debate with President Donald Trump, an ally of Bolsonaro, that foreign countries should give Brazil $20 billion (US dollars) to stop Amazon deforestation, and that country should face repercussions if it fails.

Brazilian leer has insisted on ecomic development of region, drawing condemnation from environmentalists, climate scientists and foreign leers who say forest is an important carbon sink and must remain standing to achieve climate change goals.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly accused unnamed imperialist forces of trying to take over Amazon, which harkens back to stance of 1964-1985 military dictatorship.

On his Twitter account, Bolsonaro also labeled Biden's comments as "regrettable," as well as "disastrous and gratuitous." While Bolsonaro's original tweets correctly named Democratic candidate, English translation provided by his office referred to "Mr. John Biden."

During Tuesday's debate, Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden said Brazil's rainforests are being torn down.

Preliminary official data published on Aug. 7 indicated that deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region over past 12 months could be at a 14-year high.

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