democraciaAbierta has seen a
PowerPoint presentation that shows that Bolsonaro’s government intends to use
hate speech to isolate minorities of the Amazon. Español Português
21 August 2019
Leaked documents show that
Jair Bolsonaro's government intends to use the Brazilian president's hate
speech to isolate minorities living in the Amazon region. The PowerPoint
slides, which democraciaAbierta has seen, also reveal plans to implement
predatory projects that could have a devastating environmental impact.
The Bolsonaro government has
as one of its priorities to strategically occupy the Amazon region to prevent
the implementation of multilateral conservation projects for the rainforest,
specifically the so-called “Triple A” project.
"Development projects
must be implemented on the Amazon basin to integrate it into the rest of the
national territory in order to fight off international pressure for the
implementation of the so-called 'Triple A' project. To do this, it is necessary
to build the Trombetas River hydroelectric plant, the Óbidos bridge over the
Amazon River, and the implementation of the BR-163 highway to the border with
Suriname," one of slides read.
One of the tactics cited in
the document is to redefine the paradigms of indigenism, quilombolism and
environmentalism through the lenses of liberalism and conservatism
In February, ministers Gustavo
Bebianno (Secretary-General of the Presidency), Ricardo Salles (Environment)
and Damares Alves (Women, Family and Human Rights) had planned travel to Tiriós
(Pará) to speak with local leaders about the construction of a bridge over the
Amazon River in the city of Óbidos, a hydroelectric plant in Oriximiná, and the
expansion of the BR-163 highway to the Suriname border. But this meeting was
canceled.
A second meeting among
government officials, also in February, used a PowerPoint presentation that
details the projects announced by the Bolsonaro government for the region. The
presentation, which was leaked to democraciaAbierta, argues that a strong
government presence in the Amazon region is important to prevent any
conservation projects from taking roots.
The slides are clear. Before
any predatory plan is implemented, the strategy begins with rhetoric.
Bolsonaro's hate speech already shows that the plan is working. The Amazon is
on fire. It's been burning for weeks and not even those who live in Brazil were
fully aware. Thanks to the efforts of local communities with the help of social
networks, the reality is finally going viral.
The online reaction is far
from being sensationalist. This year alone, Brazil had 72,000
fire outbreaks, half of which are in the Amazon. The National Institute for
Space Research (Inpe) reported that its satellite data showed an 84% increase on
the same period in 2018.
The Amazon rainforest provides
20% of the world's oxygen. People are deliberately starting fires in effort to
illegally deforest land for cattle ranching. President Bolsonaro is letting
this slide!! #AmazonRainforest
#PrayforAmazonas
Attacking non-governmental
organizations is part of the Bolsonaro government's strategy. According to
another of the PowerPoint's slide, the country is currently facing a globalist
campaign that "relativizes the National Sovereignty in the Amazon
Basin," using a combination of international pressure and also what the
government called "psychological oppression" both externally and
internally.
This campaign mobilizes
environmental and indigenous rights organizations, as well as the media, to
exert diplomatic and economic pressure on Brazilian institutions. The
conspiracy also encourages minorities – mainly indigenous and quilombola (residents
of settlements founded by people of African origin who escaped slavery) – to
act with the support of public institutions at the federal, state and municipal
levels. The result of this movement, they say in the presentation, restricts
"the government's freedom of action".
Those are, according to a
slide, "the new hopes for the Homeland: Brazil above everything!"
So it is unsurprising that
Bolsonaro's response to the fires comes in the form of an attack on NGOs. On
Wednesday, August 21, Bolsonaro said he believed non-governmental organizations
could be behind the fires as a tactic "to draw attention against me, against
the government of Brazil.".
Bolsonaro did not cite names
of NGOs and, when asked if he has evidence to support the allegations, he said
there were no written records of the suspicions. According to the president,
NGOs may be retaliating against his government's budget cuts. His government
cut 40 percent of international transfers to NGOs, he added.
Part of the government's
strategy of circumventing this globalist campaign is to depreciate the
relevance and voices of minorities that live in the region, transforming them
into enemies. One of the tactics cited in the document is to redefine the
paradigms of indigenism, quilombolism and environmentalism through the lenses
of liberalism and conservatism, based on realist theories. Those are, according
to a slide, "the new hopes for the Homeland: Brazil above
everything!"
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