• Amazonia.Jair Bolsonaro will agree to discuss the G-7's help if Emmanuel Macron recants his "insults"
  • 20 million. Brazil rejects the help of the G-7 and ensures that fires in the Amazon are "under control"
  • Controversy: The other attacks of Bolsonaro: from "take your pasta and reforest Germany, dear Merkel" to "whales killed by Norway" ª

The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, yesterday demanded an apology from his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to agree to negotiate the aid of 20 million euros with which to fight fires in the Amazon, as they were offered by the G -7 during its summit in Biarritz.

"First, Mr. Macron has to withdraw the insults he made against me. He called me a liar. Then, for the information I had, our sovereignty is open in the Amazon," he said before meeting with the governors of the nine states affected by fires, yesterday in Brasilia.

"To talk or accept anything from France, even with the best possible intentions, he (Macron) is going to have to withdraw those words," Bolsonaro continued, to settle with a "first withdraw, then offer and, from there , I answer".

The statements contradicted those of members of his Government, who a day earlier had rejected the offer, especially if the offer was conditional on monitoring or collaboration with NGOs. When asked about it, he replied: "Did I say that? Did I speak? Did Jair Bolsonaro speak?", As Globo cited.

In yesterday's meeting with the representatives of the Amazon states, Bolsonaro blamed the position of the French president - the first to unequivocally show his concern about the fires in the Amazon - to the low popularity in his country. "People with thoughts like Mr. Macron's should think twice, three times, before wanting to get out of the complicated situation they are in, with a huge rejection within their country, even approaching us," he said. Although he acknowledged that "nobody is against speaking here with France under any circumstances."

In fact, this was transmitted to most of the governors of the states affected by the fires, which asked the president to accept the economic aid of the G-7. "All resources are important, from all sources. The goal is one: the preservation of the environment and the Amazon," said Roraima Governor Antonio Denarium of the same political formation of the president.

Along the same lines, Hélder Barbalho, governor of Pará, the state most affected by the fires, said that "the country is wasting time" with the comments of President Macron, although there is no need to "neglect the economic importance that can have France, "he added.

Similarly, the governor of Maranhao, Flavio Dino, expressed concern about the impact on exports, as well as the cancellation of the Amazon Fund, which since its foundation in 2008 has received 1,200 million euros from Norway and 68 per part of Germany in the fight against deforestation and that remains frozen after the Bolsonaro government unilaterally dissolved the mechanisms that monitor and implement it.

"We cannot repel cooperation actions. Of course, while preserving the value of national sovereignty, dialogue with other countries is indispensable. If Brazil is isolated on the international stage, it is exposed to very serious trade sanctions against our producers. Therefore, defending Brazil, defending sovereignty, defending the economy requires dialogue with other countries, "said Dino. Because as the governor of Mato Grosso pointed out, meanwhile, "60% of our GDP comes from exports."

The representative of Rondonia, Colonel Marcos Rocha, removed the matter by saying that the international reaction to fires has been "absurd." "There have always been fires, even before I was born," he said. However, he also considered international aid welcome, unless it does not end in NGOs, "which are international and say where they have to be applied (resources)."

They were also stigmatized by President Bolsonaro, who even initially suggested without evidence that they were behind the provocation of fires, together with the indigenous reserves they were once again the target of their criticism by suggesting that there is a conspiracy against Brazil. "The Indians do not 'lobby'. They do not speak our language. And somehow they have finished with 14% of our land," Bolsonaro said. For this, the indigenous populations have the mission of making the development of the country unfeasible and "many have a strategic aspect that someone programmed."

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  • Brazil
  • France
  • Jair Bolsonaro
  • Emmanuel Macron

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Brazil Bolsonaro rejects the help of the G-7 and ensures that fires in the Amazon are "under control"

BrazilThe other attacks of Bolsonaro: from "take your pasta and reforest Germany, dear Merkel" to the "whales killed by Norway"