"Lying is part of Bolsonaro's DNA," says environmental expert about his speech at the UN.

Brazil of Fact - A new collection of lies. This is how Jair Bolsonaro's (PL) participation in the opening of the 77th UN General Assembly on Tuesday (20) can be classified, according to the analysis of the executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, Marcio Astrini.

 "We're no longer shocked by Bolsonaro. I remember that the first few times he spoke at the UN, or in other international hearings, it had a huge impact. Because this behavior of blatantly lying was something we've gotten used to over time. But back then it still caused a kind of shock in everyone, everyone was terrified," he contextualizes regarding the current president's fourth speech.  

In Bolsonaro's words, Brazil was portrayed as a country that "saved lives in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic" and that is seeing a decrease in rural violence. He also stated that the country has a president enthusiastic about domestic vaccine production and who "cares for the environment."   

"We already know that lying is part of Bolsonaro's DNA. So the same discourse that he uses here in Brazil, he ends up doing abroad," defined Márcio Astrini, in the edition of Bem Viver this Wednesday (20). 

The secretary of the Climate Observatory stated that, contrary to Bolsonaro's discourse, "all environmental figures have worsened in Brazil," highlighting the increase in deforestation in the Amazon (73%) and the Cerrado (17%) with the most up-to-date annual data, as well as the Atlantic Forest (66%), last year.   

In his speech, Bolsonaro even stated that 2/3 of all Brazilian territory remains covered in native vegetation, exactly as it was when Brazil was invaded by Portugal in 1500.  

"That's a lie. We have several systems, official government systems and various other satellite systems, that show the evolution of land grabbing. Brazil has a large area of ​​preservation or remaining forest. The Amazon is the most cited case, but this region is not intact. We have 20% deforestation in the Amazon and another 20% of the Amazon that is not deforested, more or less that number, but which has already been, in some way, disturbed, altered. It is practically half of the [Amazon] forest that is in an impactful situation. And that is different from being protected, as he says. Intact can be an abandoned region, which the government does not take care of, does not give a purpose to, does not have a plan for the region, and environmental crime has not yet reached there due to geographical issues or other situations. But these are areas that are ready to be victims of environmental crime," he points out.

The environmental expert also points out that research from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) suggests that Brazil could double its food production without deforesting any new areas. 

"These areas should be designated for collective use, settlements, extractive reserves, also serving the population that needs land in Brazil, which are not the large landowners, but the small landowners, who are often waiting for government action to have their title recognized," he argues.  

As a consequence of the current federal government's environmental policy, Astrini contextualizes the violence against rural, water, and forest communities.   

"We're not just talking about deforestation. There's an increase in violence in the countryside. Indigenous populations are being subjected to a veritable massacre, promoted by the federal government and led by the President of the Republic. So much so that indigenous people denounced Bolsonaro at the Hague Tribunal for crimes against humanity," he stressed, highlighting that environmental fines are not being collected and the budget for the environmental sector has suffered considerable cuts.  

Astrini further states that invasions of indigenous lands have tripled in the country, and the Cerrado region is undergoing continuous land disputes under a government that is "in the game of crime."  

"Violence, mainly due to land disputes in the northern region of the country, has increased by almost 8%. This is closely linked to the whole picture of environmental devastation, the invasion of public lands, which is land grabbing promoted by the government, and the mass distribution of weapons in that region. In other words, it's like throwing gasoline on a fire. You already have a stressed environment, an environment where there is no law and the Amazon has been handed over to crime. This wasn't due to government omission, it was due to the government's partnership with this environmental crime; this crime became more armed, more powerful, with more money, and this increased the violence," he states. This may be Brazil's last participation in the event under Bolsonaro's leadership, who is second in the opinion polls regarding the reelection race. 

Astrini also stated that the head of the Executive branch "lied about vaccination in Brazil when he said it saved lives," emphasizing that "various surveys and research show that Bolsonaro's denial of the virus and the [delay in] purchasing the vaccine led to people's deaths."  

Another lack of synchronicity between theory and practice in the Bem Viver interviewee's assessment was Bolsonaro's enthusiastic statement about the national production of Covid-19 vaccines.  

"He went so far as to boast that Brazil had even produced vaccines; he must have been referring to Butantan, which he himself said he was against and wouldn't give a single cent for vaccine production in Brazil," he recalled.  

Exclusively, Brasil de Fato reports that the number of National Force officers deployed to protect employees at the Funai headquarters in Atalaia do Norte (AM) has been in freefall since the deaths of indigenous rights activist Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips. Meanwhile, the feeling of insecurity is growing in a region marked by the association between environmental crime and drug trafficking.   

Regarding the 2022 elections, Bem Viver highlights that, in addition to being marked by the polarized dispute between Lula (PT) and Bolsonaro (PL), it is characterized by being the election in which, since redemocratization, more popular movements have launched their own candidacies in a coordinated manner. Seeking to occupy space in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília and in State Legislative Assemblies, the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) has 15 candidates in this election. 

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