Brazil rejects G-7 aid to fight Amazon fires, blasts Macron
Brazil's President and chief of staff slam the French leader, saying he has 'colonialist mentality'
BRASILIA : Brazil on Monday rejected aid from G-7 countries to fight wildfires in the Amazon, with a top official telling French President Emmanuel Macron to take care of "his home and his colonies".
Nearly 80,000 forest fires have broken out in Brazil since the beginning of the year - just over half of them in the massive Amazon basin that regulates part of earth's carbon cycle and climate.
The G-7 countries made the US$20 million (S$28 million) aid offer to fight the blazes at the Biarritz summit hosted by Mr Macron, who insisted they should be discussed as a top priority.
"We appreciate (the offer), but maybe those resources are more relevant to reforest Europe," said Mr Onyx Lorenzoni, chief of staff to President Jair Bolsonaro.
"Macron cannot even avoid a foreseeable fire in a church that is a World Heritage Site," he added, referring to the fire in April that devastated the Notre-Dame cathedral.
"What does he intend to teach our country?"
The presidency later confirmed the comments to AFP.
Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles had earlier told reporters that they had welcomed the G-7 funding to fight the fires that have swept across 950,000ha and prompted the deployment of the army.
But after a meeting between Mr Bolsonaro and his ministers, the Brazilian government changed course.
"Brazil is a democratic, free nation that never had colonialist and imperialist practices, as perhaps is the objective of the Frenchman Macron," Mr Lorenzoni said.
Although about 60 per cent of the Amazon is in Brazil, the vast forest also spreads over parts of eight other countries or territories, including the French overseas territory of Guiana on the continent's north-east coast.
Hundreds of new fires have flared up in the Brazilian part of the forest, even as military aircraft dumped water over hard-hit areas.
Smoke choked Porto Velho city and forced the closure of the airport for nearly two hours as fires raged in the state of Rondonia where firefighting efforts are concentrated.
Mr Bolsonaro - a climate-change sceptic - has faced criticism over his delayed response to the fires and thousands have taken to the streets in Brazil to denounce the destruction.
The blazes have also fuelled a diplomatic spat between Mr Bolsonaro and Mr Macron, who have locked horns repeatedly over the past week.
The French President has threatened to block a huge new trade deal between the European Union and Latin America unless his Brazilian counterpart takes serious steps to protect the fast-shrinking forest from logging and mining.
Mr Bolsonaro reacted by blasting Mr Macron for having a "colonialist mentality" and days later endorsed vicious personal comments about the French President's wife posted online, driving their relationship to a new low. - AFP
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