After saying that he didn't need the more than 250 million reais sent by Germany and Norway to protect the Amazon, the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro says Brazil doesn't have resources to fight Amazon fires

After saying that he did not need the R$ 155 million from Germany and R$ 133 million from Norway to go to the Amazon Fund, President Jair Bolsonaro went public today, according to Reuters, to say that the Brazilian government doesn't have enough resources to fight a record number of wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest.

Leaving the presidential residence today, Bolsonaro tells reporters that “the Amazon is bigger than Europe, how will you fight criminal fires in such an area?" According to Bolsonaro, Brazil "do not have the resources for that.”

A few days ago, Bolsonaro sent Chancellor Angela Merkel to use the millions the German government would send to the Amazon Fund to reforest Germany. He then criticized the Norwegian government, which also used to contribute to the Amazon Fund, and decided not to send funds anymore because of the current Brazilian government policy.

Today, several Brazilian newspapers have published information that Brazil is using money already sent by Germany and Norway to the Amazon Fund to fight fires. Contracts of R$ 14.717 million with the Amazon Fund, donated by the two European countries, was signed in June 2014 by Ibama.

Amazonia is burning! Number of fires in the Brazilian region grows scary 70%, in 2019

According to a research by the Programa Queimadas (Burning Program) of Inpe (Brazilian National Institute for Space Research), which measures the number of fire outbreaks in Brazil, the number of fires grew a staggering 70% in 2019 compared to 2018. 

The Amazon is by far the most affected biome as it accounts for over 50% of fires. The Brazilian Cerrado biome, in turn, is the scene of 30% of fire outbreaks. 

Most of the fires are produced by ranchers who want to turn the forest into an area for beef cattle production. The current drought in the region greatly facilitates the spread of fire.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, during an event in the interior of São Paulo, said that much of the responsibility of the fires are of the state governments, which do not make the ideal control of fire outbreaks.

However, the Mato Grosso Fire Department, one of the states most affected by the fires, said it needed more support from the federal government. The Fire Department of Mato Grosso also said to see with concern the blockade of the Amazon Fund that, until this year, has invested R$ 12 million in structure to combat fire in the state.

The current government has refused to receive millions of reais sent from Germany and Norway to the Amazon Fund. President Jair Bolsonaro even said that Chancellor Angela Merkel should use the money to reforest Germany.

While trying to criticize Norway, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro ends up releasing a video from Denmark

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has again associated Norway with killing whales in retaliation for the Scandinavian country's decision to suspend the transfer of 133 million reais to the Amazon Fund. On Sunday night, August 18, Bolsonaro posted a video to his Twitter account with images of mammal hunting that would have occurred in the Norwegian Sea. There is evidence, however, that the cases depicted occurred in the Faroe Islands, which belong to Denmark.

This episode is another demonstration of the complete lack of political and negotiating skills of the Brazilian president, who always behaves raising the tone of the conversation and, often, with misinformation.

Such behavior by the Brazilian president and some of his ministers creates insecurity and alienates foreign investors and possible economic deals like the one between Mercosur and European Union. Because of that, even after the Social Security Reform was approved, despite the president's constant unwelcome statements about the reform, international investors are still reluctant to invest their capital in Brazil.

The attacks that President Bolsonaro has made in recent days against the German chancellor Angela Merkel, the candidate leading the presidential race in Argentina Alberto Fernández, and also against the Norwegian government only reinforce this fear in international investors.

After President Jair Bolsonaro has Angela Merkel reforested Germany, the European embassy in Brazil publishes a video in which it says Germany is one of the largest densely forested countries in Europe, with 1/3 of its national area covered by forests

The German government's response to the attacks by President Jair Bolsonaro over the European country's cancellation of money sent to the Amazon Fund, aimed at protecting the Amazon rainforest, has had many repercussions in the Brazilian media.

The largest media channels in the country showed the video in the newspapers of yesterday and today. For many analysts, propaganda was a class of diplomacy for the rudeness practiced by the Brazilian president.

This week Bolsonaro stated that Brazil “did not need German money” and stated: “I even wanted to send a message to dear Angela Merkel, who suspended $ 80 million for the Amazon. Take this money and reforest Germany, okay? There it needs much more than here.”

Norway, which also decided to cancel sending money because of the current Brazilian government policy, was also criticized by Bolsonaro.

During an interview, the Brazilian president said that "Norway is not the one that kills whales up there at the North Pole, is it? It also exploits oil there? It has nothing to offer us. It takes the money and helps [chancellor] German] Angela Merkel reforesting Germany ".

Environmentalists, scientists, and expert journalists say that the destruction of the Amazon has been increasing under the Bolsonaro government and that current environmental policies run counter to environmental guidelines.

Norway paralyzes transfers of over R$ 130 million to the Amazon Fund

Norway follows Germany and freezes part of its funding to the Amazon fund. Both countries argue Brazil has violated the fund's terms. Bolsonaro told Merkel to use the 35 million euros to reforest Germany.

According to the Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, Ola Elvestuen, the European country will suspend the sending of about R $ 133 million that would be destined for the Amazon Fund. According to Elvestuen, Brazil is breaking the agreement to reduce deforestation.

The decision of the German and Norwegian governments came because the Brazilian government wanted to change the operation of the Fund and allocate resources to compensate landowners.

According to the Gazetaweb, the Amazon Fund, which has raised R $ 3 billion in grants, finances projects from states, municipalities and the private initiative for the sustainable development of the Legal Amazon. Norway and Germany together contribute over 90% of the total fund, which is managed by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rebuts German Chancellor Angela Merkel and says that Germans 'have much to learn' with Brazil

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is in Osaka, Japan, for the G20 summit, rebuffed German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who expressed concern about Brazil's environmental policy and said the country's situation is dramatic. For Bolsonaro, Brazilians "have an example to give to Germany about the environment. Their industry is still fossil. It's part of coal. Not ours. They have to learn a lot from us".

According to the journalist Glenn Greenwald, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she views what is taking place in Brazil under Bolsonaro with great concern - as 'dramatic'- due to the threats he poses both to basic human rights and the environment".

The environmental policy of the Bolsonaro government should be the biggest drag on Brazil during the G20 meeting in Japan. It is not only Germany that is pressing Brazil in relation to the environmental policies of the Bolsonaro government. The French government, for example, has been one of the toughest in the talks on the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. The main French argument is the fact that Brazil does not seem committed to the Paris Agreement – by which nations have committed themselves to meet pollution reduction targets.

To make matters worse, in an interview with BBC News Brazil, Brazil's Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said that the Brazilian government will insist on the message that it is necessary to explore the economic possibilities of the Amazon, diversifying the activities inside and around the Amazon Rainforest.

For most environmentalists, the minister's speech was received as more deforestation and damage to the Amazon Rainforest.