Sep 16, 2019

La Via Campesina: Burning the Amazon is a crime against humanity

La Via Campesina is a global social movement that unites 148 groups representing small farmers, peasants, rural workers and indigenous communities around the world.
It fights for food sovereignty and ecologically sustainable agriculture.
It released the following statement on August 24.
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Over the past few days, peoples and governments from around the world have been witnessing the consequences of the recent and serious crimes committed against the Amazon rainforest.
The thick clouds of smoke that covered the southeast of Brazil, especially São Paulo, are a direct result of the dramatic increase of fires set in several parts of the forest and transition areas with the Cerrado tropical savanna.
It should be clear for society in Brazil, Latin America, and the world that this is not an isolated phenomenon. In fact, it is the result of a series of actions taken by agribusinesses and big miners since the beginning of the Jair Bolsonaro administration, which has been actively supporting and encouraging them.
After nearly two decades of reduction in deforestation, the country’s current president and his environment minister, Ricardo Salles, engaged in violent rhetoric against Brazilian environmental conservation legislation and mechanisms, while also increasingly targeting and criminalising those who have historically protected the Brazilian biomes — peasant families and indigenous peoples.