NOVO PROGRESSO, Brazil: Handout aerial picture released by Greenpeace shows smoke billowing from the Jamanxim National Forest - APA (Environmental Protection Area) - in the Amazon biome in Para state on Friday. - AFP

PORTO VELHO,
Brazil: Hundreds of new fires are raging in the Amazon rainforest in northern
Brazil, official data showed yesterday, amid growing international pressure on
President Jair Bolsonaro to control the worst blazes in years. Multiple fires
were seen across a vast area of the northwestern state of Rondonia on Friday
when AFP journalists flew over the area.

Several people in
the capital Porto Velho told AFP Saturday that what appeared to be light clouds
hanging over the city was actually smoke from the blazes. "I'm very
worried because of the environment and health," Delmara Conceicao Silva
told AFP. "I have a daughter with respiratory problems and she suffers
more because of the fires."

The fires in the
world's largest rainforest have triggered a global outcry and are a major topic
of concern at the G7 meeting in Biarritz in southern France. Official figures
show 78,383 forest fires have been recorded in Brazil this year, the highest
number of any year since 2013. Experts say the clearing of land during the
months-long dry season to make way for crops or grazing has aggravated the
problem.

More than half of
the fires are in the Amazon, where more than 20 million people live. Some 1,663
new fires were ignited between Thursday and Friday, according to Brazil's
National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The new data came a day after
Bolsonaro authorized the deployment of the military to fight the fires and
crack down on criminal activity in the region.

US President
Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, both attending the G7 summit,
have offered their countries' assistance in fighting the fires. "Any help
is welcome in respect to the fires," Brazil's Defense Minister Fernando
Azevedo e Silva told reporters yesterday. The blazes have stirred outrage
globally, with thousands of people protesting in Brazil and Europe on Friday.
More demonstrations are planned in Brazil today.

Earlier this
week, Bolsonaro blamed the fires on non-governmental organizations, suggesting
they deliberately started them after their funding was cut. The growing crisis
threatens to torpedo a blockbuster trade deal between the European Union and
South American countries, including Brazil, that took 20 years to negotiate. EU
Council president Donald Tusk told reporters at the G7 yesterday that it was
hard to imagine European countries ratifying a trade pact with the Mercosur
bloc as long as Brazil fails to curb the fires ravaging the Amazon, which is
known as the "lungs of the planet" because of its crucial role in
mitigating climate change.

French President
Emmanuel Macron, who has taken the lead in pressing his Brazilian counterpart
over the fires, had earlier accused Bolsonaro of lying to him about Brazil's
stance on climate change. Environmental specialists say the fires are coming
amid increasing deforestation in the Amazon region, which in July took place at
a rate four times that of the same month in 2018, according to data from INPE.

Bolsonaro has
previously attacked the institute, describing its data as lies and engineering
the sacking of its head. On Friday, he insisted that the fires should not be
used as an excuse to punish Brazil. "There are forest fires all over the
world, and this cannot be used as a pretext for possible international
sanctions," Bolsonaro said.

Brazil's powerful
agriculture sector - which strongly supports Bolsonaro - has expressed concerns
over the president's rhetoric, fearing boycotts of their products in key
markets. In an editorial yesterday, the respected Folha de S.Paulo newspaper
warned that Bolsonaro's "bravado" had worsened the crisis caused by
accelerating deforestation. "The damage to (Brazil's) image is done and it
could have important trade repercussions," it said. "Nationalistic
bravado will not win the game this time." - AFP