Brazil’s space chief fired after row over Amazon deforestation with President Jair Bolsonaro
- The president has previously floated the idea of opening up protected rainforest areas to agriculture, a highly controversial move
- The latest data shows that deforestation has increased 40 per cent in the last two months compared to the same period a year ago
The head of Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research said on Friday he would be sacked following a row with President Jair Bolsonaro over deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Ricardo Galvao had accused far-right Bolsonaro of “cowardice” for publicly questioning satellite data produced by the institute, known by its initials INPE, that showed Amazon rainforest deforestation had increased 88 per cent year on year in June.
“My words about the president have caused annoyance, so I’m going to be fired,” Galvao said.
Two weeks ago, Bolsonaro had told reporters: “With all the devastation that you are accusing us of doing … the Amazon region would already have been extinguished.”
Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic, also called on Galvao “to come to Brasilia to explain the data that was released to the press”.
The president has previously floated the idea of opening up protected rainforest areas to agriculture, a highly controversial move given the existing level of deforestation.
In his row with Galvao, Bolsonaro suggested the INPE president is “in the service of some NGOs”.
A day later, Galvao hit back, blasting Bolsonaro for making “undue accusations against people of the highest level of Brazilian science” and comparing the president’s suspicions to “a joke by a 14-year-old boy”.