Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro rejects ‘fallacy’ of Amazon being part of human heritage

The far-right leader told the United Nations that the rainforest is his country’s sovereign territory and not ‘the lungs of the world’

He also denied that the Amazon was being devastated and accused world leaders of approaching the recent fires in a colonialist manner

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President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil speaks at the United Nations on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:42pm, 24 Sep 2019Updated: 5:24am, 25 Sep 2019

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, who has come under attack for wildfires that are raging in the Amazon, told the United Nations on Tuesday that the rainforest is his country’s sovereign territory.

“It is a fallacy to say that the Amazon is the heritage of humankind, and a misconception confirmed by scientists to say that our Amazon forests are the lungs of the world,” he said.

Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho on September 17. Photo: Reuters

Bolsonaro then hit out at detractors, saying that while every country had problems, sensational reporting in the international media “aroused our patriotic sentiments.”

“Using and resorting to these fallacies, certain countries, instead of helping … behaved in a disrespectful manner and with a colonialist spirit,” he said.

“They even called into question that which we hold as a most sacred value, our sovereignty.”