PRESS RELEASE<\/p>\n
A group of 198 Brazilian civil society organizations released today (6th<\/sup>) a letter to the American government<\/a>, warning that a forthcoming cooperation deal between the United States and the Bolsonaro administration could bring a risk for the environment, human rights, and democracy.<\/p>\n The Joe Biden administration has been negotiating for several weeks, behind closed doors, an environmental agreement with the government of Jair Bolsonaro. Such deal is to be announced in the climate summit convened by the US President for the 22nd<\/sup> and 23rd<\/sup> of April. Sources close to the talks say the agreement shall involve money transfers to Brazil. In the campaign trail, Biden talked about raising US$ 20 billion to save the Amazon.<\/p>\n According to the letter, the negotiations with Bolsonaro \u2013 a denier of the Covid pandemic who has dismantled Brazil\u2019s longstanding environmental policy and who was sued by indigenous peoples in the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity \u2013 put to test Biden\u2019s inaugural speech: the American President promised then to fight the pandemic, structural racism and climate change, and to reclaim America\u2019s place in the world through \u201cthe power of its example\u201d. \u201cPresident Biden needs to choose between being true to his speech and lending political prestige and money to Bolsonaro. He can\u2019t have both.\u201d<\/p>\n The text also states that any dealings with Brazil about the Amazon must involve civil society, subnational governments, academia and the private sector. And no talks should move forward until Brazil has slashed deforestation rates to the level required by the national climate change law and until the string of bill proposals sent do Congress containing environmental setbacks is withdrawn.<\/p>\n \u201cAny deal that fails to respect those premises would be an endorsement do the humanitarian tragedy and to the environmental and civilizational setback imposed by Bolsonaro\u201d, the NGOs say. \u201cIt is not sensible to expect any solutions for the Amazon to stem from closed-door meetings with its worst enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bolsonaro government strives to legalize the exploitation of the Amazon, bringing irreversible damage to our territories, to our peoples and to life in this planet. We are united to harness all support we can get that may strengthen the fight for our lives and for Mother Earth. We remain mobilized against the genocidal project that has been trying to eliminate us for more than 520 years in Brazil and which also destroys our biodiversity. That is why we insist: indigenous blood, not one drop more\u201d, says Alberto Terena, executive coordinator of Apib (Brazilian Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Articulation).<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Cerrado, the Amazon or the Pantanal burn, our people burn. The Bolsonaro government strikes bilateral deals that go against our Constitution and destroy nature; he does not respect our territories and he\u2019s making no effort to demarcate them. Even in this moment of pandemic, in which we can\u2019t bury or mourn our dead, Bolsonaro keeps trying to defeat us, through the destruction of our biodiversity\u201d, declares Biko Rodrigues, national articulator of Conaq (National Coordination for the Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities).<\/p>\n \u201cBrazil is today a divided country. On one side there are indigenous peoples, quilombolas, scientists, environmentalists and other people that fight for life and against deforestation. On the other side is the Bolsonaro regime, threatening human rights and democracy and puts the Amazon in risk. Biden must pick a side\u201d, says Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Press Contact<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Solange A. Barreira – P&B Comunica\u00e7\u00e3o <\/p>\n Claudio Angelo \u2013 Observat\u00f3rio do Clima<\/p>\n claudioangelo@observatoriodoclima.eco.br<\/a><\/p>\n +55 61 9 9825-4783PRESS RELEASE<\/p>\n A group of 198 Brazilian civil society organizations released today (6th<\/sup>) a letter to the American government<\/a>, warning that a forthcoming cooperation deal between the United States and the Bolsonaro administration could bring a risk for the environment, human rights, and democracy.<\/p>\n The Joe Biden administration has been negotiating for several weeks, behind closed doors, an environmental agreement with the government of Jair Bolsonaro. Such deal is to be announced in the climate summit convened by the US President for the 22nd<\/sup> and 23rd<\/sup> of April. Sources close to the talks say the agreement shall involve money transfers to Brazil. In the campaign trail, Biden talked about raising US$ 20 billion to save the Amazon.<\/p>\n According to the letter, the negotiations with Bolsonaro \u2013 a denier of the Covid pandemic who has dismantled Brazil\u2019s longstanding environmental policy and who was sued by indigenous peoples in the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity \u2013 put to test Biden\u2019s inaugural speech: the American President promised then to fight the pandemic, structural racism and climate change, and to reclaim America\u2019s place in the world through \u201cthe power of its example\u201d. \u201cPresident Biden needs to choose between being true to his speech and lending political prestige and money to Bolsonaro. He can\u2019t have both.\u201d<\/p>\n The text also states that any dealings with Brazil about the Amazon must involve civil society, subnational governments, academia and the private sector. And no talks should move forward until Brazil has slashed deforestation rates to the level required by the national climate change law and until the string of bill proposals sent do Congress containing environmental setbacks is withdrawn.<\/p>\n \u201cAny deal that fails to respect those premises would be an endorsement do the humanitarian tragedy and to the environmental and civilizational setback imposed by Bolsonaro\u201d, the NGOs say. \u201cIt is not sensible to expect any solutions for the Amazon to stem from closed-door meetings with its worst enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bolsonaro government strives to legalize the exploitation of the Amazon, bringing irreversible damage to our territories, to our peoples and to life in this planet. We are united to harness all support we can get that may strengthen the fight for our lives and for Mother Earth. We remain mobilized against the genocidal project that has been trying to eliminate us for more than 520 years in Brazil and which also destroys our biodiversity. That is why we insist: indigenous blood, not one drop more\u201d, says Alberto Terena, executive coordinator of Apib (Brazilian Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Articulation).<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Cerrado, the Amazon or the Pantanal burn, our people burn. The Bolsonaro government strikes bilateral deals that go against our Constitution and destroy nature; he does not respect our territories and he\u2019s making no effort to demarcate them. Even in this moment of pandemic, in which we can\u2019t bury or mourn our dead, Bolsonaro keeps trying to defeat us, through the destruction of our biodiversity\u201d, declares Biko Rodrigues, national articulator of Conaq (National Coordination for the Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities).<\/p>\n \u201cBrazil is today a divided country. On one side there are indigenous peoples, quilombolas, scientists, environmentalists and other people that fight for life and against deforestation. On the other side is the Bolsonaro regime, threatening human rights and democracy and puts the Amazon in risk. Biden must pick a side\u201d, says Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Press Contact<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Solange A. Barreira – P&B Comunica\u00e7\u00e3o <\/p>\n Claudio Angelo \u2013 Observat\u00f3rio do Clima<\/p>\n
\nsolange@pbcomunica.com.br<\/a>
\n+ 55 11 9 8108-7272<\/p>\n
\nsolange@pbcomunica.com.br<\/a>
\n+ 55 11 9 8108-7272<\/p>\n