Fri Mar 29, 2024
March 29, 2024

Amazonia Burning: People Take the Streets Against Bolsonaro!

The Amazon rain forest is burning. 25,934 fires have been registered from January until August, 2019. Half of them in Amazonia. Those are the largest figures since 2010.

By CSP-Conlutas Media Workgroup

Those fires have nothing to do with draughts.

They are primarily human made according to Ane Alencar, an expert who has been studying fires in Amazonia for 25 years.

Landowners and Real Estate profiteers are behind the fires.

Ane Alencar explained that first they cut the trees, leave them to dry for 1 or 2 months and then put them on fire.

Plots To Burn The Rainforest

Globo rural, a mainstream news website, denounced that a group of 70 landowners and Real Estate profiteers pushed for a “Day of Fires” on August 10-11 through a whatsapp group.

That day alone 400 fires “emerged” along the road BR-163 in the city of Altamira, Para State, in Amazonia.

Brazilian journalist Alvaro Pereira Junior confirmed the criminal action on the spot.

Furthermore, he noticed that the Brazilian Agency in charge of rainforest preservation has only 3 employees in Altamira, a city which has the second largest rural area in the world and one of the most devastated areas in Amazonia.

Fires Devastate Environment, Land, Forest and People

These fires alone are responsible for 50% of all greenhouse gas emissions from Brazil.

Along with soil and forest devastation, these fires jeopardize 10% of all world biodiversity.

Human health is also affected. The fire gases strike both human lungs and heart.

Sao Paulo, the largest city in the Americas, was covered by polluted clouds on August 19, which turned the afternoon into evening.

Bolsonaro Guilty

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro worked to cover-up the criminal destruction of the rain forest.

Since in office, president Bolsonaro has stood openly in favor of capitalist “development” at the expense of both ecology and the peoples of the forest (Native Brazilians, rubber tappers and riverside dwellers).

All Federal agencies in charge of fighting back deforestation and for Native Brazilians rights are under attack.

On top of that, Bolsonaro asked Israeli help what means that he does not intent to really stop the fires.

Israeli help for Brumadinho landslide after a dam collapse resulted into complete failure.

President Bolsonaro wants to revive the politics of the Military Dictatorship towards Amazonia.

For the dictatorship, Amazonia was an empty space void of people.

In 1966, the dictatorship launched the Amazonia Operation, explains Pará Federal University professor Gilberto de Souza Marques.

They wanted to bring international capitals in order to colonize the area at the expense of both the rainforest and locals.

They sponsored major capitalist corporations to take over the lands.

These corporations worked with loggers to carry out both mining and agrobusiness projects.

Poverty and devastation were the results.

People’s Demonstrations Fight Back

Bolsonaro stand was exposed by the media and opposed by the working people in streets.

People’s demonstrations were carried out in and outside Brazil on August 23-25, 2019.

Even French president Macron, backed by French landowners, tried to take advantage of the people’s outrage putting pressure on Bolsonaro administration.

The fact is, however, that neither Macron nor any capitalist governments or corporations can be trusted in this struggle to defend the Amazon rainforest.

The Peoples of the Forest – indigenous peoples, rubber tappers and riverside dwellers – are the ones who have been living in harmony with the rainforest for 10 thousand years.

Their struggle in defense of the rainforest is in the interest of the international working class.

CSP-Conlutas calls the working class and the youth internationally to stand in solidarity with the People’s of the Forest for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and against Bolsonaro administration and capitalist corporations.

Check out our other content

Check out other tags:

Most Popular Articles