JACUNDA NATIONAL FOREST, Brazil — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says Brazil will only accept an offer of international aid to fight Amazon fires if French leader Emmanuel Macron retracts comments that he finds offensive.
Bolsonaro on Tuesday said Macron had called him a liar and he accused the French president of questioning Brazil’s sovereignty and accusing rich countries of treating the region like a “colony.” It all comes tensions over fires sweeping the Amazon region.
Bolsonaro says Macron has to retract some of his comments “and then we can speak.”
Macron has questioned Bolsonaro’s trustworthiness and commitment to protecting biodiversity.
The Group of Seven nations has pledged $20 million to help fight the flames in the Amazon and protect the rainforest, in addition to a separate $12 million from Britain and $11 million from Canada.
Macron said in a speech Tuesday that Bolsonaro’s interpretation is a “mistake.
He said the money isn’t just aimed at Brazil but at nine countries in the Amazon region, including Colombia and Bolivia. France, too, considers itself an Amazon country via its overseas region of French Guiana.
Macron and Bolsonaro have been feuding over social media in recent days.
