Amazon Council Is Bolsonaro’s Answer to Global Outcry

Council to be headed by Vice President Hamilton Mourao
Government was criticized over handling of 2019 Amazon fires

Smoke rises during a fire close to the Madeira River in the Amazon rainforest near Porto Velho in August.Photographer: Leonardo Carrato/Bloomberg

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By Flavia Said and Simone Iglesias

January 21, 2020 at 6:38 PM UTC

Updated on

January 21, 2020 at 7:13 PM UTC

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Brazil set up a council to monitor the country’s Amazon region following global outcry over President Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policies and his government’s handling of forest fires last year.

The body will be headed by Vice President Hamilton Mourao and will centralize efforts across ministries to protect the region and ensure its sustainable development, Bolsonaro wrote Tuesday on his Twitter account.