More than a thousand new fires were declared in the last hours in the Amazon, while the Brazilian army airplanes furrowed on Monday the large affected areas to placate the flames that mobilized the leaders of the G7 and keep the world on the tenterhooks.
Porto Velho, the capital of the state of Rondonia (north), woke up with a mist of smoke and burning smell brought by the winds of forest fires in the region, AFP journalists reported.
As of Sunday, 80,626 fires were recorded throughout Brazil, 1,113 new outbreaks in relation to Saturday’s report, according to data from the National Space Research Institute (INPE). The balance marks an increase of 78% over the same period last year. 52.6% of the fires are located in the Amazon region.
Two Hercules C-130 tankers based in Porto Velho began their activity, launching tens of thousands of liters of water at the fire points.
The devices are part of the military operation ordered Friday by President Jair Bolsonaro, under internal and international pressure. Some 43,000 soldiers of Amazonian regiments are ready to go into activity, said Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva.
In Brazil, the increasing deforestation to open space for crops or grazing aggravated the usual fire season, experts say.
The fire unleashed a high-voltage dispute between Bolsonaro and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who raised the issue of the Amazon at the summit of the largest Western economic powers (G7) in Biarritz (southern France).
That summit agreed to contribute 20 million dollars to the fight against fire in the Amazon, in order to add planes to control the fire. It also agreed to support a medium-term reforestation plan that will be announced at the UN in September, said Macron and the president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera.
Bolsonaro said Monday that Macron “disguises his intentions” by proposing an ‘alliance’ of the G7 countries to ‘save’ the Amazon, as if it were a colony or a no man’s land.
He also indicated that he spoke with Colombian President Iván Duque about the need to have a joint plan among most of the countries that make up the Amazon, that guarantees their sovereignty and natural wealth.
Brazil has so far accepted the help of Israel, which proposed sending a plane.
crhoy.com