Brazil

BRASILIA, Sept 7 (NNN-Xinhua) — Brazil and Chile said here that they will strive to bring the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the Pacific Alliance closer.

Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Ernesto Araujo and his visiting Chilean counterpart Teodoro Ribera jointly announced their decision to strengthen the ties between the two leading blocs of Latin America.

6 September 2019; AFP: A Brazilian government minister said French first lady Brigitte Macron was "truly ugly" Thursday, only days after the country's president appeared to endorse an attack on her appearance.

Brazil's economy minister Paulo Guedes said he agreed with President Jair Bolsonaro's comments about Macron's looks.

"The president said it -- it's true," he said to applause during an economic forum. "The woman is truly ugly."

31 August 2019; AFP: President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday that Europe has "nothing to teach" Brazil about preserving the environment, as the country aligns itself with the United States over fires raging in the Amazon rainforest.

The far-right leader's comments come as the latest official data show thousands of new fires were ignited across Brazil on Thursday -- the first day of a ban on burning -- with most of them in the Amazon basin.

VILA NOVA SAMUEL, Brazil (AP) — “Without smoke, there’s no progress,” said the Amazon rancher in a torn straw hat and cowboy boots caked in red dirt.

The rancher, 75-year-old Antonio Lopes da Silva, was talking about the fires that have swept parts of one of the world’s most precious regions in recent weeks. People around the world reacted with shock at what they consider a monumental threat to the environment, but for many living in the Amazon, land-clearing fires mean survival and development.

30 August 2019; AFP: A 60-day ban on burning in Brazil took effect Thursday after a global outcry over fires raging in the Amazon and data showing hundreds of new blazes in the rainforest.

The decree issued by President Jair Bolsonaro comes after escalating international pressure over the worst fires in the Amazon in years, which have ignited a diplomatic spat between Brazil and Europe.

But activists quickly doused hopes that the ban would work.

SAO PAULO (Brazil), Aug 29 (NNN-XINHUA) — Brazil will keep developing its agribusiness sector with lower usage of water and land to maintain production sustainability, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said.

“Brazil is a powerhouse in food production, but also a power in environmental protection. We make everything we produce sustainable,” the minister said during an agribusiness event in Sao Paulo.

PORTO VELHO, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday that Latin America’s Amazon countries will meet in September to discuss both protecting and developing the rainforest region, which has been hit by weeks of devastating fires.

The Brazilian leader also escalated a deeply personal dispute with French President Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of portraying himself as “the one and only person” concerned about the environment.

ALTAMIRA, Brazil (AP) — As fires raged in parts of the Amazon, Mydje Kayapo sat in a small boat looking out over the Curua River in the Bau indigenous reserve. The smell of smoke filled the air, and Kayapo was worried.

“The fire is coming closer and closer to our reserve,” he told a visiting news team from The Associated Press. “Now it is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away.”

PORTO VELHO, Brazil (AP) — Lingering smoke in the Amazon caused concern Tuesday among Brazilians who say that respiratory problems — particularly among children and the elderly — have increased as fires in the region rage.

“The kids are affected the most. They’re coughing a lot,” said Elane Diaz, a nurse in the Rondonia state capital of Porto Velho, as she waited for a doctor’s appointment at the city’s 9 of August hospital with her 5-year-old-son Eduardo. “They have problems breathing. I’m concerned because it affects their health.”

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he wants French President Emmanuel Macron to retract “insults” against him before he will countenance accepting an offer of $20 million from the Group of Seven nations to fight forest fires in the Amazon.