41–50 of 58 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think he is trying to cut government down to size.
Anyone downvoting this must not know how big the Brazilian government is and how invasive it is in the lives of Brazilian citizens.
I live in BC where it’s not uncommon for wildfires to consume a million hectares in one summer (as was the case in 2018 with a total of 1.3m hectares burned.) ...Typically we put out the fires first then assign the blame, seeing as it doesn’t really matter who’s fault it is once it’s started...
For a lot of people it’s more important to put blame than solving a problem.
According to this NASA report, this is a natural occurrence on this time of the year: > As of August 16, 2019, an analysis of NASA satellite data indicated that total fire activity across the Amazon basin this year has been close to the average in comparison to the past 15 years. Source: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145464/fires-in-bra...
Interestingly, the URL used to have a different caption: https://web.archive.org/web/20190822024248/http://www.nasa.g... > Although it is not unusual to see fires in Brazil at this time of year due to high temperatures and low humidity it seems this year the number of fires may be record setting. According to Brazil’s space research center INPE almost 73,000 fires have been recorded so far this year. INPE is seeing a…
Bolsonaro's government is a criminal regime. One of his first goals was to destroy the agencies that regulate the environment and disable the reporting mechanisms (which were "fake news" according to him). He personally fired the president of INPE, a state research agency, for publicizing a report about Amazon deforestation.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/11/sergio-moro-ja...
I see this meme pop up on social media all the time now about how the Amazon rainforest is burning and to spread the “awareness”. But really, what are you supposed to do? Merely being aware of some tragedy occurring far away doesn’t do anything. The people who perpetuated it don’t give a damn. Are we supposed to go put out the fires? Are we supposed to go kill the people who did this? If there’s nothing I can do, the…
While the Amazon is in Brazilian territory, it is one of the largest carbon sinks in the world and therefore has a global positive externality. Therefore this is not a domestic issue.
Perhaps by spreading awareness we can shift the Overton window on how these cross-border climate issues should be addressed. E.g. perhaps Brazil should be paid from a global fund to not cut down the rain forest.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Criminal? As opposed to which other governments?
Upvoted. Bolsonaro's government is a criminal regime in the same way that every Brazilian government has been criminal. You basically need to commit crimes to get elected in Brazil and commit more once you're elected to stay in power.
There is a good interactive map: https://www.windy.com/-CO-concentration-cosc?cosc,-12.555,-7...
There is a good interactive map: https://www.windy.com/-CO-concentration-cosc?cosc,-12.555,-7...
Thanks a lot. It's very hard to understand what is happening from the media (Brazilian or international). This map explains: - why it's so concerning even if the fires are overall smaller than the Amazon average for this time - because most of Acre and Rondônia are on fire, the average is down pushed by the largest, less populated states. - what is up with the national and Acre's governments fighting on TV - most of…
but since social media is adamant that it was Amazon and that those meteorologists are hiding facts to cover the government, leds me to believe this is an international coordinated campaign to make Brazil look irresponsible taking care of Amazon "the lung of the world" and that the USA will soon offer to build more bases on the Brazilian northeast, like they did last time this was the international consensus.
in the end, it's all about Brazil's and Venezuela's oil. and very little about the trees.
Bolsonaro's government is a criminal regime. One of his first goals was to destroy the agencies that regulate the environment and disable the reporting mechanisms (which were "fake news" according to him). He personally fired the president of INPE, a state research agency, for publicizing a report about Amazon deforestation.
It's not even a legitimate one [1]. I find it rather telling that a legitimate election in Venezuela that was supervised by international organizations has been questioned, while an illegitimate fascist government in Brazil gets no media coverage. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/11/sergio-moro-ja...
> "Chávez created a political regime based on a concentration of power that allowed him to co-opt the Supreme Tribunal and the National Electoral Council. An example of this was the 2004 recall referendum procedure that was manipulated by Chávez to assure his victory."
> "Maduro was elected in 2013, in a contentious election. After that, electoral malpractices increased, particularly after the Supreme Tribunal decided to dismantle the Venezuelan Congress."
> "in January 2018 the illegitimate national Constituency Assembly decided to convene an early presidential election. The single-party assembly was installed in a clear violation of the Venezuelan Constitution. In any case, according to the Venezuelan Constitution, elections must be called with at least six months’ notice."
>"The national constituency assembly decided to ban the participation of several opposition political parties [...]. In addition, several political leaders were banned, while others were prosecuted or are in exile. The right to participate in public affairs and to be elected was violated."
> "The National Electoral Council’s Directors were appointed by the Supreme Tribunal, and not by the Venezuelan Congress, as established in the Constitution. This facilitated its politicization, as was demonstrated during the 2016 recall referendum against Maduro, which was blocked by the Council."
> "The right to equal opportunities to vote and universal suffrage was violated due to several inconsistencies in the electoral register. This included issues for Venezuelans living abroad: only an estimated hundred thousand Venezuelans [of the 4-5 million exiles] were able to comply with the electoral register."
> "Freedom of opinion and expression has been violated, particularly, since the Constituent Assembly approved an “anti-hate law”, that established ill-defined crimes punished with prison up to twenty years. Criticizing the Government can be considered a hate crime."
> "Several critics stated that the Government used social programs to coerce voters, in violation of the Anti-Corruption Law. For instance, Henri Falcon (Maduro’s main opponent in the election) denounced that Maduro used the “fatherland card” –required to access medicine and food provided by the Government- to coerce voters."
> the 2018 election had a 40% turnout (half the turnout in the previous election but the EIP also notes: "abstention could not be deemed as the cause of Maduro’s “victory”. On the contrary, abstention is the consequence of fraudulent actions that allowed Maduro’s reelection".
It is also worth noting that the one legitimate source Maduro insists on evoking to proclaim the legitimacy of its election is the Carter Center which also issued a statement calling those claims misleading and claiming that "The Carter Center has not observed elections formally in Venezuela since 2004"[5].
As for Bolsonaro, his electorial upset and later actions was met with an Economist cover calling him "Latin America's latest menace" [6], An opinion piece by the Editorial Board calling him "Brazil's Sad Choice"[7], an extended segment by John Oliver [8], an extended segment by Hasan Minhaj specifically about the Amazon in May [9], an entire documentary about his rise to power distributed by Netflix [10]. The numerous articles in major media organizations about these recent fires are part of a long trend of robust (and rightful) scrutiny of Bolsonaro's beliefs from election to administration.
I'd like to emphasize this is not my apology of American diplomacy in Venezuela or of Bolsonaro's administration. I am troubled by Mr. Bolsonaro's medieval worldview and assaults on institutions. I also am worrisome about how much US seems to be flirting with military intervention in Venezuela.
But claiming that (a): the 2018 Venezuelan poll was a "legitimate election" and that (b): Brazil's government "gets no media coverage" is resolutely false and doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
[0]: https://www.dw.com/es/uni%C3%B3n-europea-rechaza-elecciones-... [1]: https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/ranking/release/senate-... [2]: https://prodavinci.com/grupo-de-lima-solicita-suspension-de-... [3]: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2018/112.... [4]: https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/international-blog... [5]: https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/venezuela-020419.html [6]: https://www.economist.com/printedition/covers/2018-09-20/ap-... [7]: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/opinion/brazil-election-j... [8]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsZ3p9gOkpY [9]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt8EcSyjPY8
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not even a legitimate one [1]. I find it rather telling that a legitimate election in Venezuela that was supervised by international organizations has been questioned, while an illegitimate fascist government in Brazil gets no media coverage. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/11/sergio-moro-ja...
The EU [0], the USA [1], The Lima Group [2], and the IACHR [3] have all denounced the Venezuelan election as fraudulent among others. The Electoral Integrity Project at Harvard lists 46 countries total that have issued denunciations and gives a thorough explanation of electoral fraud in Venezuela [4]: > "Chávez created a political regime based on a concentration of power that allowed him to co-opt the Supreme Tribuna…