Brazil’s president says he might send military to fight Amazon fires

Bolsonaro did not say when the armed forces would get involved but suggested that action could be imminent. He has previously described rainforest protections as an obstacle to economic development, sparring with critics who note that the Amazon produces vast amounts of oxygen and is considered crucial in efforts to contain global warming.At one point, Bolsonaro suggested environmental groups could be responsible for setting the fires in retaliation for reduced funding from his administration, a claim he later walked back, CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reports. But the groups and protesters blame him.
“His government is inviting this sort of destructive behavior in the Amazon,” Christian Poirier with the environmental organization Amazon Watch told CBS News. “The spike in forest fires that were set are a direct result of the Bolsonaro government’s undermining of environmental protections.”What you can do to help the burning Amazon rainforestSmall numbers of demonstrators gathered outside Brazilian diplomatic missions in Paris, London and Geneva to urge Brazil to do more to fight the fires. Neighboring Bolivia and Paraguay have also struggled to contain fires that swept through woods and fields and, in many cases, got out of control in high winds after being set by residents clearing land for farming.About 2,900 square miles of land has been affected in Bolivia, according to Defense Minister Javier Zavaleta. On Friday, a B747-400 SuperTanker arrived in Bolivia to help with the fire-fighting effort.The U.S.-based aircraft can carry over 20,000 gallons of retardant, a substance used to stop fires. Some 140 square miles have burned in northern Paraguay, near the borders with Brazil and Bolivia, said Joaquín Roa, a Paraguayan state emergency official.He said the situation has stabilized. In escalating tension over the fires, France accused Bolsonaro of having lied to French leader Emmanuel Macron and threatened to block a European Union trade deal with several South American states, including Brazil.Ireland joined in the threat. The specter of possible economic repercussions for Brazil and its South American neighbors show how the Amazon is becoming a battleground between Bolsonaro and Western governments alarmed that vast swathes of the region are going up in smoke on his watch.Ahead of a Group of Seven summit in France this weekend, Macron’s office issued a statement questioning Bolsonaro’s trustworthiness. Brazilian statements and decisions indicate Bolsonaro “has decided to not respect his commitments on the climate, nor to involve himself on the issue of biodiversity,” Macron’s statement said.