Leaders at the G-7 pledged $20 million dollars in aid to help fight the fires destroying the Amazon. Tuesday, Brazilian President’s Special Communications Office told CNN the country will turn down the money.
President Jair Bolsonaro suggested that leaders should use the aid elsewhere instead. “We are thankful, but maybe those resources would be more relevant to reforest Europe.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for more international involvement in fighting the fires but Bolsonaro said that foreign involvement would treat Brazil like “a colony or no man’s land,” and jeopardize the country’s sovereignty.
Chief of Staff Onyx Lorenzoni suggested that, “Macron is unable to avoid a preventable fire in a church that is at a World Heritage Site and he wants to show us what is for our country? He has a lot to look after at home and the French colonies,” Lorenzoni said, according to G1. He was referring to the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in April.”Brazil is a democratic nation, free and never had colonial or imperialistic practices which might be (the) objective of Frenchman Macron.”
