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25 August 2019Argentina will send 200 firefighters to Brazil to collaborate in extinguishing the fires that are affecting the Amazon. In a statement, the Argentine government reported that Argentine firefighters will travel to Brazil to "offer support and assistance in the face of the serious environmental situation caused by the fires".
There are two hundred well-equipped professionals, members of the national system for the total management of risks (Sinagir), which will be available for the assistance that the Brazilian authorities "deem necessary". The decision of the Argentine president, Mauricio Macri, comes following the conversation he had with his Brazilian colleague, Jair Bolsonaro, last Thursday.
Hundreds of new fires, the army arrives
Hundreds of new fires are ravaging the forest. Bolsonaro, surrounded by the protests of thousands of citizens who took to the streets against his negligence, decided to field the army to extinguish the fires. The Defense has announced the deployment of 44,000 soldiers and, if necessary, more will be added.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, at the G7 in Biarritz, the leaders are divided on how to deal with the Amazon emergency. United States and Great Britain offer assistance. France and the president of the EU Commission, Donald Tusk, threaten to block the EU-Mercosur trade agreement (which also includes Brazil). Instead, the Spanish government formally opposed the retaliation initiative.
The northern State of Rondonia is burning faster and faster. The clouds of black smoke have obscured the capital Porto Velho, where citizens protest against the negligence of the central government and against farmers, accused of favoring fires to have more fields to cultivate. Official data certify that this year in Brazil 78,383 forest fires were recorded, the highest number since 2013, although Bolsonaro insists that the fires "are average".
Only between Thursday and Friday, 1,663 new fires broke out
Deforestation, experts say, favors fires. More than half of the fires are in the Amazon, where more than 20 million people live. According to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) only 1,663 new fires broke out between Thursday and Friday. So far, six states, including Rondonia, have requested the help of the army.
The American president, Donald Trump, and the British premier, Boris Johnson, offered their assistance. "Any help is welcome," Brazilian Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo and Silva told reporters. Europe, however, also puts pressure on the table to 'force' Bolsonaro, who had initially diminished the scope of the fires, to intervene. At risk is the trade agreement for free trade between the European Union and the South American countries, which required 20 years of negotiations.
The outgoing president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, told journalists at the G7 that it is difficult to imagine the European countries that ratify a commercial pact with the Mercosur blockade as long as Brazil fails to stop the fires that devastate the Amazon, deemed "lung of the planet" due to its crucial role in climate change mitigation. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, was among the first to question the agreement. From Spain, which "had committed itself to the forefront of the negotiations", comes however a firm opposition to the blocking of the ratification.
The appeal of the bishops of Brazil: urgent action is needed
"The absurd fires and other criminal depredations now require an adequate position and urgent action", underlines the Bishops 'Conference of Brazil in a document - signed by the presidency of the Bishops' Conference, on behalf of all the bishops - sent to the Agency Fides, the information body of the pontifical missionary works.
The bishops warn: "There is no more time for political speeches", urging them to act promptly and effectively to save the green lung of the planet. The Brazilian bishops turn to their own authorities: "The Brazilian people, their representatives and their servants have the greatest responsibility for the defense and conservation of the entire Amazon region", and "it is urgent that the governments of the Amazonian countries, in Brazil in particular, take serious measures to save a key region in the planet's ecological balance: the Amazon ". "This is not the time for discussions about judgments or delay in words", but "raising the voice" and assuming a prophetic attitude, taking an example from Pope Francis. In the text all those who hold positions of responsibility in the economic, political and social fields are urged, saying: "Let us be guardians of creation".
"Let us build together a new social and political order, in the light of the values of the Gospel of Jesus, for the good of humanity, of Panamazonia, of Brazilian society, in particular of the poor of this land. This is indispensable, to promote and preserve the life in the Amazon and elsewhere in Brazil. In lucid dialogue and understanding, we must now raise our voice ", concludes the text. Yesterday it was the Latin American Episcopal Council, which brings together the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, to launch a heartfelt appeal to the whole world: "We urge the governments of the Amazon countries, in particular Brazil and Bolivia, the United Nations and the international community to take serious measures to save the lungs of the world. What happens to the Amazon is not just a problem local but global in scope. If the Amazon suffers, the world suffers ", underlined the Celam communiqué sent to Fides.