With Amazon on fire, environmental officials in open revolt against Bolsonaro – “It creates a sense of persecution. I don’t know of any organization that can develop in a climate of fear and terror.”

By Ernesto Londoño and Letícia Casado
28 August 2019

RIO DE JANEIRO (The New York Times) – Hundreds of government workers on the front lines of enforcing Brazil’s environmental laws signed an open letter warning that their work has been hampered by President Jair Bolsonaro, contributing to a rise in deforestation and the fires sweeping through the Amazon.

The letter was issued amid a global debate over the fate of the Amazon as thousands of fires are raging across the world’s largest rainforest. The workers said in their letter, signed over the last two days, that Brazil’s environmental protection system could “collapse” if nothing changes.

Employees of the country’s main environmental agency, Ibama, said that their mission had been hobbled in recent years as a result of budget cuts, staff reductions in remote areas, political interference and a weakening of environmental regulations.

“There is no way to separate those factors and the significant rise in deforestation and fires,” they wrote in the letter.

This month, there have been more than 27,400 fires detected in the Amazon. Such fires occur yearly as farmers clear land to grow crops or graze cattle. But this year’s fire season, the most intense in a decade, drew global concern last week as world leaders and celebrities issued stark warnings about the fate of the Amazon.

The letter comes as Mr. Bolsonaro has rebuffed offers of international aid and called pressure from foreign leaders on environmental matters an unacceptable affront to Brazil’s sovereignty.

Since Mr. Bolsonaro took office in January, deforestation has increased at a significant rate and Ibama has carried out fewer enforcement actions, which include issuing fines and warnings and conducting worksite raids. […]

According to Rene Luiz de Oliveira, Ibama’s general coordinator, field agents face growing hostility and threats in much of the country. In 2017 and 2018, Ibama installations in remote towns in the Amazon were set on fire.

And in June and July, Ibama was unable to carry out operations in the state of Pará, where deforestation has been soaring, because the local police officers would not provide backup. […]

Denis Rivas, the president of the National Association of Environmental Experts, another group of government workers, said many longtime workers have seen their life’s work crumble in recent years since the era when Brazil succeeded at reining in deforestation ended around 2012. […]

Mr. Bolsonaro’s disparaging remarks about environmental enforcement work have stung, Mr. Rivas said.

“It creates a sense of persecution,” he said. “I don’t know of any organization that can develop in a climate of fear and terror.” [more]

With Amazon on Fire, Environmental Officials in Open Revolt Against Bolsonaro