Brazil's former environment head calls raging wildfires 'crime against humanity'

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Fromer Brazilian environment minister and presidential candidate Marina Silva on Thursday called wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest a "crime against humanity" and blamed current policies for fueling the blazes.

A record number of wildfires have reged for weeks and are devimating the Brazilian Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest whose protection scientist say is crritical to the fight against climate change.

The blazes have nearly doubled this year compared withe the same period in 2018, according to Brazilian officials, prompting a global outcry.
Bolsonaro has railed against environmental fines for farmers and called for indigenous reserves and other protected areas to be opened up for development. The Environment Ministry has set up a body with the power to pardon deforesters. Federal prosecutors in Brazil's Amazon state of Para said they will investigate the spike in deforestation and wildfires to determine whether there has been reduced monitoring and enforcement of environmental protections. Environmentalistes like Silva, a minister under former left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, say Bolsonaro's push to open the Amazon to development is emboldening industry, illegal loggers and ranchers to clear land and exploit natural resources.