Ricardo Salles has urged the government to further roll back environmental protections, taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic, which he says is distracting the media.
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The Bolsonaro government has already "accustomed" us to the reckless mismanagement of Brazil's environmental heritage, which has led, among other things, to a drastic increase in deforestation and the progressive dismantling of environmental protection agencies.
Read also: Brazil, deforestation in the Amazon keeps rising
A further peak of grotesqueness has now been reached, however: environment minister Ricardo Salles, the very person entrusted with protecting the environment and the territory, has urged the government to weaken (even further) environmental laws, taking advantage of this moment in which, according to Salles himself, "the attention of the press is focused almost exclusively on the Covid-19 pandemic".
These disturbing statements were made by Salles during the cabinet meeting of 22 April. They entered the public domain thanks to a video of the meeting published on Friday by José Celso de Mello, dean of the Federal Supreme Court, as evidence of the serious interference by President Jair Bolsonaro that prompted the resignation of Justice Minister Sergio Moro.
The video, an integral part of an investigation into Bolsonaro's alleged attempt to interfere in the functions of the federal police, revealed a series of controversial statements by the president and ministers on a range of subjects.
Read also: Brazil, why under Bolsonaro indigenous peoples are left without land or rights
Among these were the environment minister's remarks, in which he complained about the legal obstacles involved in amending environmental regulations and advocated further deregulation of environmental policy in order to bypass the national Congress. Salles, in particular, called for greater simplification, stating that the Environment ministry is the one that faces the greatest difficulties in getting legislative changes approved.
As if these statements were not serious enough in themselves, Salles urged the government to act now, taking advantage of the fact that the attention of the press and public opinion is focused on the health crisis linked to Covid-19 — at the very moment when the number of victims and infections in Brazil continues to grow at an alarming rate and the government's management of the emergency remains the subject of widespread criticism.
Read also: Brazil, indigenous peoples caught between coronavirus and crime
"We need to make an effort while we are in this moment of calm in terms of press coverage, which is talking only about coronavirus, and carry out the regulatory reforms and simplification measures," Salles said. For the Brazilian minister, the pandemic thus represents an opportunity to push through measures that will contribute to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
Read also: Brazil, President Bolsonaro tasks the army with protecting the Amazon
The environment minister's statements inevitably drew condemnation from many environmental organisations. "Salles believes that people dying in hospitals are a good opportunity to press ahead with his project to destroy the environment, and that the absence of media spotlights is enough for him to do as he pleases," said Luiza Lima, spokesperson for Greenpeace Brazil. "But society and the justice system remain vigilant. Bolsonaro won the election, but he did not win a blank cheque to put an end to the existence of the forest and indigenous peoples, whether his ministers like it or not."
Read also: A climate conference in the heart of the forest — the Amazon is the centre of the world
"It comes as no surprise that minister Ricardo Salles has worked, since the very beginning of his tenure, to undermine the rules and institutions created to defend our environmental heritage," reads a statement released by WWF Brazil. "It is no coincidence that 2019 was the year with the highest rate of deforestation in the Amazon in the past ten years. His speech makes clear his awareness that what he is proposing is illegal, and that he therefore resents the threat that the justice system may pose to his intentions. Brazil needs a minister equal to the importance that the environment holds for the country."
Following the publication of the meeting's video and the controversy it sparked, Salles defended himself by claiming he had "always championed the reduction of bureaucracy and the simplification of regulations in all areas." It seems clear, however, that the Brazilian government views the world's largest rainforest as nothing more than an economic resource to be exploited.
