Brazil says it cannot give up mining and highways in the Amazon

The government of Brazil is committed by law to the preservation of 80% of its Amazon But it cannot give up road construction and mining in the world’s largest rainforest, Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao said Monday.

“We cannot abandon the possibility of exploiting the great mining wealth of the Amazon. It is obvious that this exploitation will be carried out with the parameters of the XXI century and respecting environmental legislation, but it is necessary ”, he claimed Mourao in a telematic press conference with foreign correspondents.

The general of the Army reserve, responsible for policies for the largest tropical forest in the world in his capacity as president of the Council of the Amazon, assured that the State has an obligation to preserve the plant lung, but also to improve living conditions of those who live in the region.

In that sense, he cited the possibility that the Brics bank (the forum made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) finance a project to exploit potassium in the state of Amazonas.

“When we have the environmental license and the authorization of the indigenous communities that may be affected, although the deposits are not located in any reserve, we will launch a project that will allow Brazil to be self-sufficient in the production of potassium, a source of very important fertilizers for one of the largest agricultural producers in the world “, said.

Mourao indicated that the forest code establishes that Brazil has to preserve 80% of the Amazon, a region that spans more than half of the country’s 8.5 million square kilometers.

“But the other 20% can be used for other activities, such as agriculture or mining”, he claimed.

He added that, due to logistical difficulties, it is costly and complicated to serve the population living in the Amazon, which, he said, was demonstrated last year when the region suffered from a shortage of oxygen for hospitalized patients with covid-19 and it was necessary to mount an operation to send it on hundreds of flights.

In this sense, he defended the reconstruction of the questioned federal highway BR319, which connects the cities of Porto Velho and Manaus, and which he considered “essential”.

“It is a strategically important highway because it allows access to the Amazon not only by plane or boat to serve the population. Facilitate logistics. It is logical that when it is passable it will be necessary to increase the control to prevent people from taking advantage of it to increase the areas of deforestation ”, admitted.

Despite deforestation and forest fire rates in the Amazon reaching alarming levels since the far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro became president of Brazil, in January 2019, Mourao He said the situation improved in 2021.

“The worst year was 2019, but this year we had a reduction in deforestation, which could be better, as well as a 40% drop in fires. These are numbers that reveal that the actions to combat deforestation and fires by environmental agencies with the support of the Armed Forces are beginning to pay off ”, he said.

The vice president admitted that the measure that allowed the participation of the military in the fight against deforestation will not be renewed next November but that the Armed Forces will continue to support environmental agencies.

According to official data, deforestation in the Amazon It fell from 7,869.7 square kilometers between January and September 2019 to 7,063.1 kilometers in the same period in 2020 and to 7,010.5 kilometers in the first nine months of this year.

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