Ignoring Huge Fires, Spike In Murders, Brazil's Reps Talk Economic Development, Technology
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In his first public appearance at COP25 on Monday, December 9, Salles focused on Brazil’s agribusiness sector: “When I hear about [farmers and ranchers] making the areas already opened more efficient, this is the right vision. Better technologies, better conditions, this is one of the factors that discourages the opening of new areas [to deforestation]. Besides that, something directly connected to our position here at COP25, the monetization of environmental services.” Salles did not respond to questions about the murder of two indigenous representatives, Raimundo and Firmino Guajajara, on Saturday December 7, on the BR-226 highway, between the municipalities of Boa Vista and El Betel, in Maranhão state. But a minute of silence was held in honor of the two at the event. Nor did the minister comment on data showing surging deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
The minister’s Monday speech didn’t take place at the Brazilian government booth, a major presence at past COPs. That’s because the Bolsonaro administration decided against having one. Instead, Salles spoke from a space organized by Brazilian civil society. The Brazilian delegation at COP25 works out of a small, inconspicuous office, a blue cube whose door always seems closed and locked. For the first time since 1992, the government denied accreditation to civil society to take part in the official delegation.
Brazil’s divided personality was especially on display at the Monday speechmaking event: Salles, with his Amazon pro-development views, talked just after Caetanno Scannavino, coordinator of the Saúde e Alegria project, one of the socioenvironmental NGOs recently targeted by a government investigation, with the seizure of its computers by the Military Police of Pará.
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Energized by the support they’ve been getting from the government, Brazilian agribusiness representatives hyped “Rural Producers: The Great Environmental Partner,” and participated in COP debates promoting the use of agribusiness technologies to expand croplands.
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https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/cop25-brazils-official-presence-diverges-widely-from-its-public-persona/
