By threatening to disclose the list of countries importing illegal timber, President Jair Bolsonaro tried to point out as guilty of the devastation of the Amazon the countries that pressure Brazil to reduce deforestation rates. “These countries partly have responsibility on this issue,” the president said Tuesday (17) at a Brics meeting.
It would be a good argument if it were not the explicit justification of the Europeans, who already admitted themselves to be part of the problem in explaining their concern.
Bolsonaro, therefore, makes evident the reason for European concern with deforestation in the Amazon and now has a discourse aligned with foreigners.
The pressure from European leaders comes, after all, from their consumers and voters, who are critical of consumption linked to deforestation. The pressure that led the Tesco supermarket chain in the UK to join Greenpeace in a critique of meat produced in Brazil came from them. The action prompted the UK to process a law requiring its companies to ensure that their imports are not linked to deforestation.
Read more in Folha de S. Paulo
