Brazil

Monday, August 26th 2019 - 18:42 UTC
EU divided on ratification of trade pact with Mercosur, warns Donald Tusk

The European Union Council president Donald Tusk said it was hard to imagine the bloc ratifying its trade pact with Mercosur as long as Brazil fails to curb the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest. The EU “stands by the EU-Mercosur agreement”, Tusk told reporters at a G7 meeting in Biarritz in southern France.
Monday, August 26th 2019 - 17:56 UTC
New fires raging in the Amazon; agriculture sector warns Bolsonaro: “nationalistic bravado will not win the game”

Hundreds of new fires are raging in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, official data showed, as thousands of troops were made available to help fight the worst blazes in years following a global outcry. Multiple fires billowing huge plumes of smoke into the air were seen across a vast area of the northwestern state of Rondonia.
Monday, August 26th 2019 - 17:48 UTC
Pope Francis calls for the protection of “the lung of forests vital for our planet”

Pope Francis on Sunday called for a global commitment to put out the fires in the Amazon, saying the area was essential for the health of the planet. “We are all worried about the vast fires that have developed in the Amazon. Let us pray so that, with the commitment of all, they can be put out soon.”
Saturday, August 24th 2019 - 16:23 UTC
Amazon fires: Thousands of people protested in front of Brazilian embassies; Montevideo was not an exception

Thousands of people gathered on Friday in front of Brazilian embassies in different cities around the world and Montevideo was no exception. Several hundred protesters, mostly young people, cut off busy Bulevar Artigas Avenue at the embassy of the Amazonian country, whose government is widely criticized for its environmental policies by countless NGOs around the world.
Saturday, August 24th 2019 - 09:55 UTC
G7 summit adds 'Amazon wildfires' to an already thorny agenda, which is scrapping a joint declaration

G7 leaders gathering in France this weekend plan to hammer out “concrete measures” in response to the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest, putting them on a collision course with Brazil's rightwing leader.
Saturday, August 24th 2019 - 09:08 UTC
Climate activists protest outside Brazil embassy in London; PM Johnson described fires as “an international crisis”

Climate change activists chanting slogans and waving banners demonstrated outside Brazil's embassy in London on Friday, urging President Jair Bolsonaro to do more to halt the fires in the Amazon rainforest.
Friday, August 23rd 2019 - 09:56 UTC
Bolsonaro creates a “crisis cabinet” to address the Amazon forests fires and criticisms

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro following a Thursday meeting with his ministers at the Planalto Palace announced the creation of a crisis cabinet to address the Amazon rainforest situation.
Friday, August 23rd 2019 - 09:54 UTC
France and UN lead battle for the protection of fire plagued Amazon rainforest

France and the United Nations called on Thursday for the protection of the fire-plagued Amazon rainforest as Brazil's right-wing president blamed NGOs for promoting an “environmental psychosis” to damage the country's interests.
Friday, August 23rd 2019 - 09:40 UTC
Forest fires in Bolivia: half a million hectares, 1.700 fighters and a Super tanker

Bolivian authorities warned this week that 70% of the department of Santa Cruz — where more than a quarter of the country's population lives — is under “extreme risk” from forest fires. According to the government, nearly 500,000 hectares of forest have now been turned into ashes.
Friday, August 23rd 2019 - 09:36 UTC
“Macron is an idiot”, is the title of a video posted by Eduardo Bolsonaro

“Macron is an idiot” is the title of a video posted in social networks by a Brazilian member of congress who happens to be the son of president Bolsonaro, Eduardo Bolsonaro