World calls on Bolsonaro to take action as Amazon keeps burning in man-made fire

World leaders and rights advocates are joining a chorus of global pressure on Brazilian far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has so far failed to take action against a devastating blaze in the Amazon rainforest.

The leaders of the Group of Seven countries, known as G7, will meet on Saturday in southern France to address the devastating wildfire, which has prompted protest across the world but has yet to draw criticism from Bolsonaro's American counterpart Donald Trump.

Amazon, which accounts for more than half of the world's largest rainforests, has been burning in a giant inferno over the past three weeks.

Forest fires are an annual occurrence in the Amazon region – about 60 percent of which lies in Brazil. But this year’s inferno, which has engulfed an all-time high of 83 percent of the area, is said to be man-made.

Environmental organizations and researchers say the blaze was set by farmers, who want to clear the “lungs of the world” for pasture.

Bolsonaro responsible: Amnesty

Amnesty International warned on Thursday that responsibility for the fires "lies squarely with President Bolsonaro and his government.”

It said that Brasilia’s "disastrous policy of opening up the rainforest for destruction (is) what has paved the way for this current crisis."

Bolsonaro, who like Trump does not believe in climate change, stands accused of encouraging the destruction of the world’s greatest tropical forest.

He has said in the past that Amazon should be “exploited” for agriculture, mining and infrastructure projects.

Trump's silence

The US president, who was headed to France to attend the G7 meeting on Saturday, has so far failed to denounce Bolsonaro’s handling of the disaster.

Bolsonaro has been dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics” for imitating the US president’s stance on climate change, among many other issues.

Both leaders have already advocated using protected natural areas for their resources prompting environmental experts to describe them as threats to the global natural habitat.

Trump, who pulled out of the Paris agreement on climate change, has described global warming as a Chinese hoax.

EU threatens to kill trade deal

In a bid to put more pressure on Bolsonaro, European leaders have threatened to tear up a trade deal that was struck in June between the European Union and a regional South American bloc.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said they will vote against the EU-Mercosur deal — signed after  20 years of negotiations — unless Brazil takes action to protect the rainforest.

"There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honor its environmental commitments," Varadkar said on Friday.

Brazil said at the time of the agreement that the deal would boost the economy and increase investment in the country for the next 15 years.

Anti-Bolsonaro protests gain momentum

With the blazes raging on, protesters across the world laid siege to Brazilian embassies. Hundreds of people gathered outside Brazil’s embassy in London Friday, with placards reading, “The planet deserves better” and “Our house is on fire.”

Rallies were also held outside Brazil’s embassies in Mexico City and Paris, where demonstrators carried banners reading, “Fora Bolsonaro!” or “Bolsonaro, out!”

Protesters also surrounded the Brazilian consulate in Geneva while further marches were planned in other cities across the world including Adelaide, Lisbon, Stockholm, Boston and Florida.

Brazilians also staged protests on Friday to demand Bolsonaro take action against the fire.

Protesters in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo marched and shouted "Come to the street for the Amazon" and "Not him" in reference to Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro to send troops

As protests gained momentum across the world, Bolsonari said Friday he would deploy federal troops with appropriate equipment to fight the fires.The president, however, kept blaming what he called as dryer-than-normal weather for the spike in fire outbreaks this year.

In a televised speech, he said the government was very aware of the situation and would fight "environmental crime" the same way it fought ordinary crime.

He also said that the spread of "false information" regarding the situation in northern Brazil "does not help to solve it."

While Bolsonaro was making the announcement, thousands of people in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the capital of Brasilia were calling for the resignation of his Environment Minister Ricardo Salles.

Hundreds of protesters were also out in the streets in the Peruvian and Argentinian capitals of Lima and Buenos Aires on Friday, calling for action to save Amazon.

Brazilian demonstrators were preparing to mobilize for a weekend of protests in cities including Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Curitiba, Recife and the Amazon city of Manaus.

Brazil’s indigenous people call for international help

Brazil's indigenous chief Raoni called for international help to put out the fires as he accused Bolsonaro of seeking to destroy the Amazon rainforest.

A spokeswoman for the Brasilia-based Indigenous Missionary Council, Gilberto Vieira dos Santos, asked Canada to press Brazil to change its current stance of Indigenous rights.

“The position of the Canadian government is very important," she said. "Maybe it's the only real pressure that can have an impact on the situation in the country.”

Another indigenous leader, Rayanne Cristine Máximo França said Bolsonaro has unleashed an assault on the community and their lands by emboldening farmers, ranchers and miners to carve deeper into the Amazon rainforest.

The community accused Bolsonaro of both “genocide” and “ecocide", saying there has further been a rise in the displacement of Indigenous people from their lands under his rule.

Brazilian law protects the Indigenous territories and recognizes an Indigenous right to land. But Bolsonaro, who has long made racist remarks about the community, has weakened protections and turned a blind eye to illegal logging.

This has led to increased incursions by illegal loggers and increases in illegal land seizures in Indigenous territories.

According to a recent report by Amnesty International, the protection of Indigenous rights is "key to preventing further deforestation in the Amazon."

On Friday, it warned that the "risk of bloodshed" in the Amazon was rising unless the Brazilian government reversed its current position and began protecting Indigenous lands.

"Since early this year, there has been a surge in the invasion of Indigenous territories," said João Ghilherme Delgado Bieber, a consultant with Amnesty International.

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