BRAZIL
A New Front
Organized criminal networks are responsible for the deforestation of the Amazon and use violence and intimidation against those who try to stop them, according to a new Human Rights Watch report.
The 165-page report found that out of 300 murders in the Amazon in the past decade, only 14 were tried in court, Reuters reported.
“If the authorities had taken their complaints seriously, these people might be alive today,” Daniel Wilkinson, acting environment director of nonprofit group, told the news agency Tuesday.
Brazil’s Environment Minister Ricardo Salles responded that the government has fought against criminality, and is currently combating illegal fires and other environmental crimes that have plagued the rainforest in recent weeks.
The Amazon plays an important role in the fight against climate change, but the rainforest’s destruction has surged this year due to the fires.
Meanwhile, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has come under fire internationally for his policies that advocate opening the Amazon to development and the weakening of Brazil’s environmental enforcement agencies.
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