Ricardo Salles publicly sided with suspected illegal loggers following a record timber seizure, but claims his interference in the police operation wasn’t a crime
BRASILIA (Reuters) -A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has authorized a criminal investigation into allegations that Environment Minister Ricardo Salles obstructed a police probe into illegal logging, according to a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has authorised a criminal investigation into allegations Environment Minister Ricardo Salles obstructed a police probe into illegal logging.
Reuters
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Brazil s Environment Minister Ricardo Salles speaks during a news conference after a virtual global climate summit in Brasilia, Brazil, April 22, 2021. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
Brazil s top prosecutor on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to open a criminal investigation into allegations that Environment Minister Ricardo Salles obstructed a federal police probe into illegal logging in the Amazon.
Salles has been leading U.S.-Brazil talks over funding to protect the Amazon jungle, the world s largest rainforest, which is under threat from logging and fires. Last month, police searched properties connected to Salles and other officials in a probe of allegations they allowed illegal exports of timber from the Amazon region to the United States and Europe. read more
Illegal miners fire shots, burn homes in Munduruku Indigenous Reserve
by Ana Ionova on 28 May 2021
Illegal gold miners set fire to homes of several Indigenous leaders in the Munduruku Indigenous Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon this week, before attempting to destroy police equipment used to expel outsiders, authorities and activists say.
Indigenous groups say the attack was in retaliation to police operations aimed at expelling illegal gold miners from the Munduruku reserve, which is supposed to be under federal protection.
The Munduruku people have been battling invasions for decades but miners have grown bolder amid expectations that the federal government may legalize wildcat mining on Indigenous lands; police forces withdrew from the region following the attacks, leaving Indigenous people vulnerable to further violence, federal prosecutors say.