Understaffed agencies in Brazil face a bureaucratic battle to hire staff and a violent battle against criminals emboldened by Bolsonaro
Brazil’s environmental enforcement agents set out in January on their first mission this year to combat illegal deforestation, with renewed energy after the election of a president who has promised to stop surging Amazon rainforest destruction.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took office Jan. 1, has vowed to end destruction of the world’s largest rainforest but it may take years to show major progress, as understaffed agencies face a bureaucratic battle to hire staff and a violent one against criminals emboldened by his predecessor.
Brazil’s most powerful weapon against deforestation in the short run is Ibama, which slaps fines on offenders, bans farming in deforested areas and destroys expensive equipment used in illegal logging. Agostinho said the government will open a call for new Ibama hires by early April, but it is likely to then take 10 months before new agents are in the field, due to rules about public-sector hiring and training for such dangerous missions.
Many of Ibama’s veteran field agents retired or left in frustration over the past four years, given restrictions on their jobs under Bolsonaro, who had obstructed their main enforcement tool of environmental fines and sought to limit their destruction of illegal mining and logging equipment. One man hit him with a bottle in the face: a video of the incident seen by Reuters showed blood streaming from his temple. He got three stitches at a local hospital.
“People are more heavily armed, which escalates violence,” Lima said, highlighting the need for stronger police escorts on the agency’s missions. “The violence will be worse.”
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