Man-Made Forest Fires Destroy Area Twice the Size of Austria in Brazil

Government leaders suspect political motives behind fire crisis

This week, during an emergency meeting held with leaders of Brazil’s three branches of government, several officials, including President Lula, declared that they suspect political motives behind the nation’s fire crisis, which is reminiscent of the 2019 crisis triggered by then-President Jair Bolsonaro, after he gutted the environmental protection agencies and sent dog whistles to agribusiness barons that he wasn’t going to enforce laws against illegal logging, farming and ranching inside national parks. The following is a news story I produced for TeleSur English’s program, “From the South”. The transcript is posted below.

Transcript:

Narrator: Capitalizing on conditions caused by the worst droughts in decades, forest fires have been raging across Brazil for weeks. According to the federal police, 99% of these fires have been started by humans. On September 19, the government announced that since the start of the crisis last month, 187,580 square kilometers have been destroyed by fire - an area over twice the size of Austria.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva: The concrete fact is that, it looks very unusual to me. Some fires happen every year, it's the worst drought in recent memory and the worst heat wave in recent memory around the world, but to me, something reeks of the opportunism of some sectors trying to spread chaos in this country.

Narrator: Every year during dry season in countries across South America, local actors in global commodity chains for products like soy and beef start fires on environmentally protected land, then illegally occupy it when the smoke clears to start farming and ranching for agribusiness corporations in the global north. This year, however, top officials in environmental and policing agencies believe that something even more nefarious is underway.

Brazilian Environmental Minister Marina Silva: There are forest fires going on in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay and other places around the world. The difference is that there is a criminal group here in Brazil enacting a kind of climate terrorism in which they use conditions generated by climate change to further aggravate the problem. This is a crime against public interest, against public financing and it definitely requires stiff sentences.

Narrator: Spreading chaos is a common tactic of the internationally-aligned far right and some leaders are already under investigation for possible roles financing the fires. One hypothesis for motive, is to discredit the Lula government during the lead up to the October 6 local elections.

Dhayane Santos - Director of TV 247: Pastor Silas Malafaia is a religious leader connected to the Brazilian far right who regularly financially backs their demonstrations, including the Anti-Supreme Court rally on September 7 in Sao Paulo. He posted invitations to it on his social media channels saying, "Brazil is going to burn." Immediately, the number of fires increased across Brazil.

Narrator: On September 18 Environmental Minister Marina Silva said that firefighting brigades had extinguished 290 fires, contained 179, and were battling the remaining 108 man-made forest fires burning across Brazil.

Brian Mier, TeleSur, Recife