Friends Of The Earth Brazil Slams Bolsonaro's Government For Amazon Deforestation

The Brazilian branch of international environmental group Friends of the Earth in comments to Sputnik has condemned the government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for its role in destroying the Brazilian portion of the Amazon rainforest

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2019) The Brazilian branch of international environmental group Friends of the Earth in comments to Sputnik has condemned the government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for its role in destroying the Brazilian portion of the Amazon rainforest.

According to satellite data, deforestation in the Amazon jungle, an ecosystem that is crucial for the global environment, has gone up in recent months by almost 90 percent in comparison with the previous year. The government under Bolsonaro, who has been serving as Brazil's right-wing leader since January, has reportedly been encouraging deforestation to free up more land for farming.

"Friends of the Earth Brazil acts to support land and defenders of territories, because the militancy of leaders continues to put their lives at risk. It is these very struggles that can ensure the survival of biodiversity and enable us to put an end to deforestation. Our actions include denouncing the absurdities of the current Brazilian government and US imperialism imposed on our continent, through political action of internationalist solidarity and the construction of collective agendas with social movements allied in resistance," the organization said.

Growing deforestation in the Amazon can be attributed to the increased privatization of state assets and "the loosening of environmental legislation," according to the group.

"Jair Bolsonaro's far-right government, completely subordinated to US politics, is expanding the concentration of private property - favoring the extractive industries (mining, agribusiness and lumber) and bleeding peasant peoples and biodiversity dry. It is a fact that private property is deforested at a higher rate than public lands," Friends of the Earth underlined.

The organization went on to point out that Brazil had the highest rate of deaths among human right defenders, including those who advocated for the preservation of the Amazon.

"Deforestation and the murder of numerous leaders of peasant organizations, quilombolas, indigenous peoples and defenders of territories and land, have an intrinsic relation and a common enemy: corporate capture," Friends of the Earth said.

Earlier in the month, the Rainforest Fund, a US-based charity organization co-founded by UK singer Sting, in comments to Sputnik also criticized Bolsonaro's Amazon policies.