Brazil sends army to tackle Amazon fires

Brazil’s president has ordered the armed forces to fight record forest fires in the Amazon, amid international outrage over rising deforestation.
President Jair Bolsonaro deployed soldiers in nature reserves, indigenous lands, and border areas beset by fires.
The move is an apparent reversal from Bolsonaro, who has been accused of emboldening miners and loggers.
Other countries had threatened to target Brazil’s economy if it did not act to stop the fires.
France and Ireland had said they would not ratify a large trade deal with South American nations, and Finland’s finance minister had called on the EU to consider banning Brazilian beef imports.
In a televised address to the nation on Friday, Bolsonaro said forest fires “exist in the whole world” and “cannot serve as a pretext for possible international sanctions”.
Many of the fires are thought to have been started deliberately, with suspicion falling on farmers who may benefit by having more available land. Mr Bolsonaro has scorned environmental activists and declared staunch support for the clearing of areas of the Amazon for agriculture and mining.
Experts and campaigners say his administration has given a green light to rainforest destruction. Environmental groups held protests in cities across Brazil on Friday to demand action to combat the fires, and protesters gathered outside the Brazilian embassies around the world.
The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming. It is known as the “lungs of the world” and is home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people.
In his televised address, Mr Bolsonaro confirmed that he had authorized the armed forces to help fight the fires. “I’ve learned as a military man to love the Amazon forest and I want to help protect it,” he said.
The decree itself was fairly vague in its wording, but specified that the military would be deployed to nature reserves, indigenous lands and border areas in the region.
The deployment of soldiers would be left down to regional governors who can request “preventive action … against environmental crimes” and ask the army to “survey and combat fire outbreaks”, it said.
Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva is to oversee the order and will be responsible for allocating resources, it stated. The order initially authorizes action for a month, from 24 August to 24 September.
Mr Bolsonaro has faced deepening international criticism for his handling of the fires. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have called the fires an international crisis.
Ms Merkel called it an “acute emergency” and Mr Macron tweeted: “Our house is burning.” Both said the issue must be discussed at this weekend’s G7 summit in Biarritz.