Category Archives: Jair Bolsonaro

Jair Bolsonaro pictured with second accused in Marielle Franco murder case

Posted on by

Photos of Brazil’s president with a suspect in the killing of a Rio councillor have emerged – seven months after a similar incident

Brazilian opposition figures and human rights observers are seething after a photo emerged of the country’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, grinning and giving the thumbs up alongside a man arrested in connection with the murder of the Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco.

It was the second time the president has been photographed alongside a suspect in Brazil’s most high-profile political murder in a decade.

Continue reading...

Brazilians blame Rio governor’s shoot-to-kill policy for death of girl

Posted on by

Hundreds protest over favela killing of Ágatha Félix, eight, allegedly shot in back by police

The photograph shows a smiling eight-year-old girl dressed as Wonder Woman, beaming through gap teeth and crossing her small clenched fists into an X. Shocked Brazilians shared the image of Ágatha Félix online after she was shot in the back in a Rio de Janeiro favela on Friday night by what residents said was a bullet from a police officer’s rifle. She later died in hospital.

She was the fifth young child to be killed in Rio favelas this year. Favela activists, politicians, the public defenders’ office and the president of Rio’s bar association blamed the shoot-to-kill policy of the Rio governor, Wilson Witzel. “He is responsible for the murder,” tweeted Guilherme Boulos, a leftist politician.

Continue reading...

‘Chaos, chaos, chaos’: a journey through Bolsonaro’s Amazon inferno

Posted on by

A 2,000km road and river odyssey in Brazil reveals consensus from all sides: Bolsonaro has ushered in a new age of wrecking

From afar it resembles a tornado: an immense grey column shooting thousands of feet upwards from the forest canopy into the Amazonian skies.

Up close it is an inferno: a raging conflagration obliterating yet another stretch of the world’s greatest rainforest as a herd of Nelore cattle looks on in bewilderment.

Continue reading...

Amazon fires are ‘true apocalypse’, says Brazilian archbishop

Posted on by

Erwin Kräutler says he expects next month’s papal synod to denounce destruction of rainforest

The fires in the Amazon are a “true apocalypse”, according to a Brazilian archbishop who expects next month’s papal synod at the Vatican to strongly denounce the destruction of the rainforest.

The comments by Erwin Kräutler will put fresh pressure on the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, following criticism from G7 leaders last month over the surge of deforestation in the world’s biggest terrestrial carbon sink.

Continue reading...

Bolsonaro taunts UN rights chief over her father’s torture by Pinochet regime

Posted on by

Brazilian president said without the dictator ‘Chile would be a Cuba today’ after Michelle Bachelet criticized rising police killings

Jair Bolsonaro has taunted Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, over the Chilean dictatorship that tortured her and her parents, after she criticised rising police killings and a “shrinking” space for democracy in Brazil.

“She is defending the human rights of vagabonds,” the Brazilian president told reporters on Wednesday. “Senhora Michelle Bachelet, if Pinochet’s people had not defeated the left in 73 – among them your father – Chile would be a Cuba today.”

Continue reading...

Corporations pile pressure on Brazil over Amazon fires

Posted on by

Asset managers, pension funds and companies halt deals and stop buying bonds

Financial pressure is growing on Brazil over fires in the Amazon and the far-right president’s belligerent response to them.

Asset managers, pension funds and companies have issued warnings, halted deals and stopped purchases of government bonds.

Continue reading...

Jair Bolsonaro demands Macron withdraw ‘insults’ over Amazon fires

Posted on by

Brazilian and French presidents continue feud over G7 aid package for wildfires raging in Amazon rainforest

Brazil’s far-right president and his backers have escalated their row over the Amazon with Emmanuel Macron, attacking the French president’s “lamentable colonialist stance” as fires continued to rage in the world’s biggest rainforest.

As Brazil said it would reject a $20m (£16m) G7 contribution to fight the fires, Jair Bolsonaro spurned Macron’s criticism of his environmental record and flaunted Donald Trump’s support for his far-right administration.

Continue reading...

Macron and Bolsonaro’s war of words over Amazon fires, aid and their wives – video report

Posted on by

Tensions rose between France and Brazil after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, tweeted that the fires burning in the Amazon amounted to an international crisis and should be made a top priority at the G7 summit. Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, reacted by accusing Macron of having a ‘colonialist mentality’. The diplomatic row between the leaders escalated when Bolsonaro expressed approval of a Facebook post implying that Macron's wife, Brigitte Macron, was not as good-looking as his own wife

Continue reading...

G7 cash for Amazon fires is ‘chump change’, say campaigners

Posted on by

World leaders offer $20m now plus reforestation plan, but critics want major policy shifts

The G7’s pledge of $20m (£16m) to douse the fires in the Amazon has been dismissed as “chump change” by environmental campaigners, as concerns grow about political cooperation on deforestation and other climate issues.

The summit host, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, told reporters he would try to deal with the long-term causes by creating an international alliance to save the rainforest, with details of a reforestation programme to be unveiled at next month’s UN climate meeting in New York.

Continue reading...

Macron rebukes Bolsonaro for ‘extraordinarily rude’ comments about wife

Posted on by

Jair Bolsonaro’s Facebook message mocking Brigitte Macron’s looks escalates diplomatic clash

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has condemned what he called “extraordinarily rude” comments made about his wife, Brigitte, by the far-right Brazilian leader, Jair Bolsonaro, escalating their diplomatic clash.

“He has made some extraordinarily rude comments about my wife,” Macron said at a press conference at the G7 summit in Biarritz when asked to react to statements about him by the Brazilian government.

Continue reading...

Brazilian warplanes dump water on Amazon fires as outcry mounts

Posted on by

G7 leaders stepped up pressure on president Jair Bolsonaro to tackle destruction of precious rainforest

Brazilian warplanes have begun dumping water on burning forest in the Amazon state of Rondonia, responding to an outcry over the destruction of the world’s largest tropical rain forest.

President Jair Bolsonaro authorised military operations in seven states on Sunday to combat raging fires in the Amazon, responding to requests for assistance from their local governments, a spokeswoman for his office said.

Continue reading...

Ex-minister: Bolsonaro ‘most detested’ leader as he neglects the Amazon

Posted on by

Rubens Ricupero warns the far-right leader is wreaking havoc on Brazil’s environment and its global standing

Jair Bolsonaro’s neglect of the Amazon has made him “the most despised and detested leader” on earth, Brazil’s former environment minister has claimed, as the far-right leader again rebuked French president Emmanuel Macron for challenging his environmental record.

Rubens Ricupero warned Bolsonaro was wreaking havoc on both Brazil’s environment and its global standing, as Bolsonaro used Facebook to scold Macron’s “inappropriate and gratuitous attacks” over the Amazon fires and insult France’s first lady.

Continue reading...

Bolsonaro enjoys comedy club outing as Amazon fires rage on

Posted on by

President watches rightwing comic as pre-recorded speech to nation on fighting fires airs

While the Amazon burned and Brazilians demonstrated their outrage, Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro went to a comedy club.

As the president’s pre-recorded speech to the nation explaining how he planned to use the army to fight the fires – while simultaneously insisting that the rate of burning of the forest was nothing out of the ordinary – was broadcast on television on Friday night, he was at a standup show in Brasília by right-wing Christian comic Jonathan Nemer.

Continue reading...

Jair Bolsonaro claims ‘profound love’ for Amazon rainforest as criticism intensifies

Posted on by

President uses TV speech to criticise ‘disinformation’ about fire crisis, saying it cannot be used as pretext for sanctions

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has professed to feeling “profound love and respect” for the Amazon as fires continued to rage in the world’s biggest tropical rainforest and criticism of his environmental policies intensified.

In a televised address to the nation – met with pot-banging protests in several Brazilian cities – Bolsonaro said he was “not content” with the situation in the Amazon and was taking “firm action” to resolve it by deploying troops to the region.

Continue reading...

Brazilian minister booed at climate event as outcry grows over Amazon fires

Posted on by

Political storm over rainforest devastation as Ricardo Salles attends summit

The environment minister of Brazil, where wildfires have been sweeping the Amazon rainforest, was booed at a climate event on Wednesday as celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Ariana Grande joined an international chorus of criticism.

Videos of Ricardo Salles being booed by demonstrators as he took to the stage at Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week in the north-eastern city of Salvador circulated widely in Brazil. An opposition senator is planning to seek his impeachment at Brazil’s supreme court.

Continue reading...

Jair Bolsonaro claims NGOs may be setting Amazon rainforest on fire – video

Posted on by

The Brazilian president has said NGOs could be burning down the Amazon rainforest to embarrass his government after he cut their funding. Bolsonaro had no evidence but said 'everything indicates' that NGOs are going to the Amazon to set fire to the forest

Continue reading...

Jair Bolsonaro claims without evidence that NGOs are setting fires in Amazon rainforest

Posted on by

Brazilian president claims green groups behind rise in blazes, but offers nothing to support his assertion

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has accused environmental groups of setting fires in the Amazon as he tries to deflect growing international criticism of his failure to protect the world’s biggest rainforest.

A surge of fires in several Amazonian states this month followed reports that farmers were feeling emboldened to clear land for crop fields and cattle ranches because the new Brazilian government was keen to open up the region to economic activity.

Continue reading...

‘A second Trump’: Bolsonaro’s offensive rhetoric adds to Brazil’s discomfort

Posted on by

Supporters say his tendency to speak freely is sincere – but detractors call it a PR disaster

He parleyed his way to Brazil’s presidency with a vote-winning barrage of scaremongering and bombast.

But eight months into Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right tenure, there is growing discomfort over the president’s inability – or refusal – to mind his mouth, and the impact this is having on Brazil’s place in the world.

Continue reading...

Norway halts Amazon fund donation in dispute with Brazil

Posted on by

International concerns grow over deforestation surge since Jair Bolsonaro took power

Norway has followed Germany in suspending donations to the Brazilian government’s Amazon Fund after a surge in deforestation in the South American rainforest. The move has triggered a caustic attack from the country’s rightwing president.

Related: Bolsonaro rejects 'Captain Chainsaw' label as data shows deforestation 'exploded'

Continue reading...

Bolsonaro rejects ‘Captain Chainsaw’ label as data shows deforestation ‘exploded’

Posted on by

Data says 2,254 sq km cleared in July as president says Macron and Merkel ‘haven’t realized Brazil’s under new management’

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon “exploded” in July it has emerged as Jair Bolsonaro scoffed at his portrayal as Brazil’s “Captain Chainsaw” and mocked Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel for challenging him over the devastation.

Speaking in São Paulo on Tuesday, Brazil’s president attacked the leaders of France and Germany – who have both voiced concern about the surge in destruction since Bolsonaro took office in January.

Continue reading...