Vice President Hamilton Mourão (PRTB) affirmed on Tuesday (18) that Brazil "no longer wants to be plundered and labeled an environmental villain because of mistakes made in the past in the occupation of the Amazon." Speaking at a symposium on the biome, he also defended the Amazon occupation policies adopted by the military governments.
This perspective of the country has been "skillfully orchestrated by political and economic groups, who keep harassing Brazil on the defensive, trying to justify their actions in the region as if we were bad tenants of someone else's property," he said.
Mourão also commands the Amazon Council, which aims to coordinate government operations to combat illicit environmental activity in the biome.
The government faces strong pressure on the international flank due to the advance of deforestation in the Amazon.
According to data from Deter, from Inpe (National Institute for Space Research), deforestation in the biome broke a recent record in April. The month was also the worst in the current historical series, which starts in 2015 - previous data was less accurate.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon