Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has come out and addressed the growing concern around the world about the Amazonian fires. His response was to tell nations not to meddle, while at the same time saying Brazil did not have the adequate resources to deal with the fires on its own.
As far as nation’s meddling, Bolsonaro has taken a rather awkward stance on receiving aid, considering he admits the country doesn’t have the resources. During a Thursday broadcast, Bolsonaro said “these countries that send money here, they don’t send it out of charity,” and, “ they send it with the aim of interfering with our sovereignty.”
While he is seemingly refusing aid, other countries are not taking well to his handling of the entire situation. Just today France and Ireland threatened to cut trade with Brazil over their handling of fires, and if he sticks to his guns more may follow.
Part of the issue with not being able to deal with the fires is directly tied to decisions Bolsonaro has made. When he came into office he began by cuttin $23 million in funding for the countries environmental enforcement agencies, as well as, rolled back many rainforest environmental protections.
By making it easier to get away with lighting these fires without any serious legal or monetary consequences are likely the genesis of the problem. In fact, during his short tenure Brazil’s fires are already up 80% from just a year ago.
However, Bolsonaro decided to shift the blame from himself to non-governmental organizations for starting the fires, in an attempt to hurt his image after cutting their funding. This also has a caveat, Bolsonaro also acknowledges that local farmers could also be responsible, which is likely because it has been a practice used in the region for decades.
No matter which way you cut it, Bolsonaro is dropping the ball. Not accepting aid from other countries while admitting you can’t handle it on your own is caused by either ego or resentment.
