They have become the symbol of the fight led by President Jair Bolsonaro and the Brazilian government against environmental NGOs. Four volunteer firefighters from the Alter do Chão fire brigade, who are assisting firefighters in the northern state of Para, were arrested on Tuesday, 26 November, as part of an open investigation to determine the cause of death. fires in the Alter do Chão area.
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Accused of causing fires
These fires, which devoured Alter do Chão – a seaside resort of freshwater and white sand in September – consumed the surface equivalent of 1,600 football fields. It took four days to get through it.
To justify the arrest of the four volunteers, the police referred to "Clues" that they caused the fires, to sell the images to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which categorically denied the WWF-Brazil and the NGO Instituto Aquífero Alter do Chão.
According to the investigators, the images sold to WWF were then used by the organization to raise funds abroad, including from American actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Environment Minister Ricardo Salles and President Jair Bolsonaro echoed the police accusations on social networks.
Firefighters released
For its part, the WWF has confirmed that it has donated more than 7,000 real (€ 15,000) to the NGO Instituto Aquífero Alter do Chão, but in the context of a transparent contract for the purchase of equipment for fire fighting.
The Para public prosecutor's office asked for access to the police investigation, noting that another federal investigation did not implicate the NGOs. The judge who ordered the arrest of the volunteers demanded their release, and the governor of the state removed the commissioner in charge of the investigation.
Amnesty International and Greenpeace have condemned the imprisonment of the four firefighters. The NGO Observatorio do Clima, which brings together various environmental organizations, has also denounced "Abusive measures (…) for the sole purpose of intimidating those who work for the sustainable development of the Amazon".
Develop the Amazon
The far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, is widely criticized for his commitment to promote the economic development of the Amazon by opening it more to agricultural and mining investments and promising to relax environmental regulations.
The fires that accompany deforestation, to allow livestock in particular, are rising sharply. Between August 2018 and July 2019, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon exceeded, for the first time since 2008, the 10,000 km threshold.2, an increase of 43% over the previous twelve months, according to official figures updated Thursday. On its own, the great Amazonian state of Para accounted for 44% of total deforestation during this 12-month period, and 75% of deforestation of indigenous lands.
