Leonardo DiCaprio denies Brazilian President's accusation over Amazon fires

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro accused actor Leonardo DiCaprio of donating $500,000 to a group that Bolsonaro said started the fires in the ecologically sensitive Amazon Forest. DiCaprio has denied the allegations and in his denial said that the Amazon is an irreplaceable ecosystem and it is at stake. He also added that he was proud to stand with the groups that were trying to protect the forest.

DiCaprio denies accusation

DiCaprio on Saturday denied claims by Bolsonaro that he had helped fund groups allegedly linked to fires in the Amazon rain forest. In his statement, while denying the accusation, DiCaprio said that he did not fund the organisations that were targeted.

While the Brazillian President has cited no evidence regarding his claim that DiCaprio had paid $500,000 to organisations. DiCaprio has been a long-time environmental activist and offered praise to the Brazilians that were working towards saving their natural and cultural heritage.

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Since 2018 the Alter do Chao volunteer fire brigade has been helping firefighters fight the huge blaze in the northern Para state, they also assisted during the recent fire in the Alter do Chao region that destroyed the equivalent of 1,600 soccer fields. Four of the group members were arrested on Tuesday before being let go two days later. Police investigators said that the members of the group had set fires to the forest in order to sell the photos to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).
The far-right Brazillian President has been an advocate for greater commercial exploitation of the Amazon and has repeatedly blamed NGO's for causing the flames in August that destroyed vast stretches of the forest in the Amazon. The officials of the Alter do Chao have called the allegations to be false. Both Amnesty International and Greenpeace have accused the Brazilian government of loosening environmental laws in the Amazon forest.

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