Brazil: Government talks tough over environment

In the wake of last Tuesday’s controversial resignation by Brazil’s environment minister several cabinet officials have strengthened their rhetoric on the environment. Marina Silva quit due to difficulties with “implementing the government's environmental agenda” and her disappointment with President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. Since then, the Lula administration has tried to show that they are taking environmental problems very seriously:

• Newly-appointed Environment Minister Carlos Minc proposed increasing the use of the army to protect the Amazon rain forest, national parks, and native lands.
• Justice Minister Tarso Genro criticized foreign countries for exploiting “the Amazon as a global reserve for big multinationals.”
• Planning Minister Roberto Mangabeira Unger argued that the government would show that conservation and economic development “could be achieved side-by-side.”

Whether the rhetoric can transform itself into strong actions (such as a recent crackdown on illegal logging) remains to be seen.

Sources- BBC News, Xinhua, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Associated Press

Image- New York Times (“Brazil sees a need to stem deforestation, as in shutting a clandestine sawmill.”)