🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 133 (from laksa196)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa133.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/the-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn","crawl_time":1776233372,"first_indexed_time":1567018079,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,newyorker!www,\/news\/news-desk\/the-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn s443","src_root_hash":"16027205805525588333","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Jair Bolsonaro, the Trump Ally Who Is Allowing the Fires in the Amazon in Brazil to Burn | The New Yorker","meta_descriptions":["Carol Pires writes about the fires surging in the Amazon, and the hostile environmental policies of Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"In January, 2012, Jair Bolsonaro, who was then a retired military officer and colorful but not politically relevant far-right congressman, was caught fishing illegally in a federally protected marine-wildlife reserve. Bolsonaro—wearing a white, Speedo-like bathing suit—was discovered in a small, inflatable boat inside the Tamoios Ecological Station, an area with a half-mile radius that serves as a refuge for penguins, seals, whales, and dolphins in the state of Rio de Janeiro. An agent with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (\nIBAMA\n) issued Bolsonaro a ticket for ten thousand reais, or roughly twenty-five hundred dollars. The following year, Bolsonaro introduced\na bill\nin the legislature that would have barred guards with\nIBAMA\nand other environmental agencies from carrying guns, although he was otherwise a longtime defender of gun-ownership rights in Brazil. Later that year, Bolsonaro filed to get\nlegal permission\nfor him—and him alone—to fish in the Tamoios reserve. Ultimately, the\nfine was dismissed\n, the bill went nowhere in congress, and the courts decided it would be a bad idea to grant one lawmaker special permission to fish in a sanctuary.\nLast year, Bolsonaro was elected the President of Brazil, after running a nationalistic campaign that echoed, in many ways, the politics of Donald Trump. A climate-change skeptic, Bolsonaro argued that more land in the Amazon rainforest should be opened for farming, mining, and logging. Under his leadership,\nIBAMA\n’s budget has been cut by twenty-four per cent. Bolsonaro has also repeatedly threatened to transform the Tamoios reserve into a Brazilian Cancún, brimming with tourist hotels. The agent who wrote him the ticket for illegal fishing, back in 2012,\nwas fired\nfrom a senior government position. And Bolsonaro has installed opponents of environmental regulations in offices throughout his new administration.\nThis week, Bolsonaro’s disdain for environmental-protection measures attracted global attention when he initially rejected an offer of twenty million dollars in international aid to help fight forest fires burning in the Amazon. The proposed funding was one of the few concrete achievements to come out of the annual G-7 summit of the world’s largest democracies. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the meeting in the resort town of Biarritz, insisted that countering the fires should be a top priority. At first, Bolsonaro rejected the aid offer, citing an ongoing feud with Macron in which the two leaders have exchanged insults. Then he said that he would consider accepting the aid if Macron apologized. “He will have to withdraw his words, and then we can talk,”\nBolsonaro said\n.\nScientists believe that the Amazon’s absorption of greenhouse gases plays a crucial role in slowing climate change. They have declared the spread of fires in the world’s largest rainforest a global crisis. As the forest shrinks, the region is growing progressively drier.\nScientists fear\nthat the Amazon could reach a tipping point where its gradual transformation into something closer to a steppe will be irreversible.\nBolsonaro has dismissed environmental groups’ concerns and encouraged loggers to deforest more of the Amazon. On August 10th, in what became known as\nFire Day\n, farmers in the town of Novo Progresso, in the state of Pará, set fires on their properties to clear land and show their support for Bolsonaro. Satellites operated by Brazil’s space agency detected a surge of wildfires. Now the blazes are so widespread that, last week, smoke darkened the skies over São Paulo, thousands of miles to the south.\nBased on satellite data, space-agency officials estimate that the number of forest fires is eighty-three per cent larger than last year. Bolsonaro has dismissed these numbers as fake, called environmentalists’ focus on the Amazon a form of “environmental psychosis,” and fired the head of the space agency. The President also claimed that environmental N.G.O.s had set the fires to damage the image of his government.\nBolsonaro and his cabinet have rolled back environmental regulations across Brazil. His Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply is a former congresswoman known as the “queen of poison,” a reference to her effort to lift restrictions on the use of pesticides. Since Bolsonaro took office, in January, the agriculture ministry\nhas approved\nhundreds of new pesticide products, some of which have been banned by the European Union. The new head of the Brazilian Forest Service supports allowing jaguars and other endangered species\nto be hunted\nin the rainforest. For his environmental-policy czar, Bolsonaro chose an ally of agribusiness named Ricardo Salles, who had been sued when he served as the state environment secretary for São Paulo for\naltering the borders\nof an environmentally protected area “with the clear intention of benefiting economic sectors, notably mining.” After Salles was criticized by environmental organizations, Bolsonaro declared, “We got it right.”","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to main content](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk\/the-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn#main-content)\n\n[![The New Yorker](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/verso\/static\/thenewyorker-us\/assets\/logo.svg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/)\n\n- [Newsletter](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/newsletters?sourceCode=navbar)\n\n[Sign In](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/auth\/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fnews%2Fnews-desk%2Fthe-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION)\n\nSearch\n\n- [The Latest](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/latest)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news)\n- [Books & Culture](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture)\n- [Fiction & Poetry](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/fiction-and-poetry)\n- [Humor & Cartoons](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/humor)\n- [Magazine](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/archive)\n- [Puzzles & Games](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/crossword-puzzles-and-games)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/video)\n- [Podcasts](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/podcasts)\n- [Goings On](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/goings-on)\n- [Shop](https:\/\/store.newyorker.com\/)\n\nOpen Navigation Menu\n\n[![The New Yorker](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/verso\/static\/thenewyorker-us\/assets\/logo-header.svg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/)\n\n[News Desk](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/news-desk)\n\n# The Trump Ally Who Is Allowing the Amazon to Burn\n\nBy [Carol Pires](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/contributors\/carol-pires)\n\nAugust 28, 2019\n\n![A fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest.](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/5d658bd077ed9800080163aa\/master\/w_2560%2Cc_limit\/Pires-AmazonFires.jpg)\n\nAs fires have surged in the Amazon, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s disdain for environmental-protection measures has drawn international attention.Photograph by Ueslei Marcelino \/ Reuters\n\nSave this story\n\nSave this story\n\nIn January, 2012, Jair Bolsonaro, who was then a retired military officer and colorful but not politically relevant far-right congressman, was caught fishing illegally in a federally protected marine-wildlife reserve. Bolsonaro—wearing a white, Speedo-like bathing suit—was discovered in a small, inflatable boat inside the Tamoios Ecological Station, an area with a half-mile radius that serves as a refuge for penguins, seals, whales, and dolphins in the state of Rio de Janeiro. An agent with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (*IBAMA*) issued Bolsonaro a ticket for ten thousand reais, or roughly twenty-five hundred dollars. The following year, Bolsonaro introduced [a bill](https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/poder\/2018\/10\/bolsonaro-retaliou-fiscais-do-ibama-apos-ser-multado-por-pesca-irregular.shtml) in the legislature that would have barred guards with *IBAMA* and other environmental agencies from carrying guns, although he was otherwise a longtime defender of gun-ownership rights in Brazil. Later that year, Bolsonaro filed to get [legal permission](https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/brazil-hunt-shoot-endangered-animals-jaguar-wildlife-rainforest-amazon-bolsonaro-a9055776.html) for him—and him alone—to fish in the Tamoios reserve. Ultimately, the [fine was dismissed](https:\/\/oglobo.globo.com\/brasil\/ibama-decide-que-multa-bolsonaro-por-pesca-irregular-esta-prescrita-23785720), the bill went nowhere in congress, and the courts decided it would be a bad idea to grant one lawmaker special permission to fish in a sanctuary.\n\nLast year, Bolsonaro was elected the President of Brazil, after running a nationalistic campaign that echoed, in many ways, the politics of Donald Trump. A climate-change skeptic, Bolsonaro argued that more land in the Amazon rainforest should be opened for farming, mining, and logging. Under his leadership, *IBAMA*’s budget has been cut by twenty-four per cent. Bolsonaro has also repeatedly threatened to transform the Tamoios reserve into a Brazilian Cancún, brimming with tourist hotels. The agent who wrote him the ticket for illegal fishing, back in 2012, [was fired](https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/ambiente\/2019\/03\/ibama-exonera-servidor-que-multou-bolsonaro-por-pesca-irregular.shtml) from a senior government position. And Bolsonaro has installed opponents of environmental regulations in offices throughout his new administration.\n\nThis week, Bolsonaro’s disdain for environmental-protection measures attracted global attention when he initially rejected an offer of twenty million dollars in international aid to help fight forest fires burning in the Amazon. The proposed funding was one of the few concrete achievements to come out of the annual G-7 summit of the world’s largest democracies. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the meeting in the resort town of Biarritz, insisted that countering the fires should be a top priority. At first, Bolsonaro rejected the aid offer, citing an ongoing feud with Macron in which the two leaders have exchanged insults. Then he said that he would consider accepting the aid if Macron apologized. “He will have to withdraw his words, and then we can talk,” [Bolsonaro said](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/08\/26\/world\/europe\/bolsonaro-macron-g7.html?module=inline).\n\nScientists believe that the Amazon’s absorption of greenhouse gases plays a crucial role in slowing climate change. They have declared the spread of fires in the world’s largest rainforest a global crisis. As the forest shrinks, the region is growing progressively drier. [Scientists fear](https:\/\/www.economist.com\/briefing\/2019\/08\/01\/the-amazon-is-approaching-an-irreversible-tipping-point) that the Amazon could reach a tipping point where its gradual transformation into something closer to a steppe will be irreversible.\n\nVideo From The New Yorker\n\n[Swift Justice: A Taliban Courtroom in Session](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/video\/watch\/the-new-yorker-documentary-swift-justice-a-taliban-courtroom-in-session)\n\nBolsonaro has dismissed environmental groups’ concerns and encouraged loggers to deforest more of the Amazon. On August 10th, in what became known as [Fire Day](https:\/\/oglobo.globo.com\/sociedade\/mpf-investiga-promocao-do-dia-do-fogo-na-amazonia-23895877), farmers in the town of Novo Progresso, in the state of Pará, set fires on their properties to clear land and show their support for Bolsonaro. Satellites operated by Brazil’s space agency detected a surge of wildfires. Now the blazes are so widespread that, last week, smoke darkened the skies over São Paulo, thousands of miles to the south.\n\nBased on satellite data, space-agency officials estimate that the number of forest fires is eighty-three per cent larger than last year. Bolsonaro has dismissed these numbers as fake, called environmentalists’ focus on the Amazon a form of “environmental psychosis,” and fired the head of the space agency. The President also claimed that environmental N.G.O.s had set the fires to damage the image of his government.\n\nBolsonaro and his cabinet have rolled back environmental regulations across Brazil. His Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply is a former congresswoman known as the “queen of poison,” a reference to her effort to lift restrictions on the use of pesticides. Since Bolsonaro took office, in January, the agriculture ministry [has approved](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2019\/jun\/12\/hundreds-new-pesticides-approved-brazil-under-bolsonaro) hundreds of new pesticide products, some of which have been banned by the European Union. The new head of the Brazilian Forest Service supports allowing jaguars and other endangered species [to be hunted](https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/brazil-hunt-shoot-endangered-animals-jaguar-wildlife-rainforest-amazon-bolsonaro-a9055776.html) in the rainforest. For his environmental-policy czar, Bolsonaro chose an ally of agribusiness named Ricardo Salles, who had been sued when he served as the state environment secretary for São Paulo for [altering the borders](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/dec\/20\/brazil-environmental-minister-still-likely-to-serve-bolsonaro-despite-misconduct) of an environmentally protected area “with the clear intention of benefiting economic sectors, notably mining.” After Salles was criticized by environmental organizations, Bolsonaro declared, “We got it right.”\n\n*IBAMA* agents [have reported](https:\/\/veja.abril.com.br\/politica\/madeireiros-usam-discurso-do-governo-bolsonaro-para-intimidar-ibama\/) being met with increasingly violent responses from miners and forestry workers as they perform their environmental-protection duties. When officials from the agency destroyed equipment used in environmental crime in the Amazon, as per regulations, [Bolsonaro criticized them](https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/ambiente\/2019\/04\/bolsonaro-desautoriza-operacao-em-andamento-do-ibama-contra-madeira-ilegal-em-ro.shtml), saying that the government “fine industry” should be shut down. In October, inspectors were stopped halfway across a bridge in an indigenous reserve in the northern state of Rondônia by a group of loggers carrying machetes and sticks. One inspector reported that one of the loggers said, “Now that Bolsonaro has won, this indigenous-land nonsense is over. It’ll all be ours.” In the state of Pará, individuals with links to illegal logging [burned down](https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/ambiente\/2019\/07\/madeireiros-incendeiam-pontes-da-transamazonica-em-protesto-contra-o-ibama.shtml) two bridges on the Trans-Amazonian Highway, in retaliation for a crackdown by *IBAMA* in the area. Since Bolsonaro took office, the agency has carried out no major operations to slow deforestation, and the number of fines imposed by the agency has sunk to its [lowest level since 1995](https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/ambiente\/2019\/03\/ibama-tem-inicio-de-ano-com-menor-quantidade-de-multas-aplicadas-desde-1995.shtml).\n\nOn the eve of the G-7 summit, Macron called the fires an “[ecocide](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/reuters\/2019\/08\/23\/world\/americas\/23reuters-g7-summit-amazon.html?searchResultPosition=1)” and threatened to block the free-trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur, a trade bloc consisting of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Bolsonaro responded by endorsing a post on Facebook that said that the French First Lady, Brigitte Macron, was unattractive. [Recent opinion polls](https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-brazil-politics-poll\/public-support-for-brazil-president-bolsonaro-eroding-poll-idUSKCN1TS2WV) have shown a decline in public support for Bolsonaro, as the country’s economy has been slow to recover from a deep recession, and scandals have beset his government. Bolsonaro, however, continues to have one strong supporter. On Tuesday, Trump [tweeted](https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1166357258726498304), “He is working very hard on the Amazon fires and in all respects doing a great job for the people of Brazil - Not easy. He and his country have the full and complete support of the USA!”\n\nMore:[Brazil](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/tag\/brazil)[Jair Bolsonaro](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/tag\/jair-bolsonaro)[Donald Trump](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/tag\/donald-trump)[Emmanuel Macron](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/tag\/emmanuel-macron)[Amazon](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/tag\/amazon)\n\n### The News & Politics Newsletter\nRead the latest from Washington and beyond, covering current events, the economy, and more, from our columnists and correspondents.\n\nRead More\n\n[![A Day in the Life of a Tree](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/5d2c868879ed830008a8a499\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/Oconnor-Tree.jpg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/science\/elements\/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-tree)\n\nElements\n\n[A Day in the Life of a Tree](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/science\/elements\/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-tree)\n\n[![A Day in the Life of a Tree](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/5d2c868879ed830008a8a499\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/Oconnor-Tree.jpg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/science\/elements\/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-tree)\n\nUsing new technology, researchers can watch as trees grow, shrink, drink, and breathe.\n\nBy M. R. O’Connor\n\n[![Jair Bolsonaro’s Southern Strategy](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/5c955a39301bde0a3b621ac5\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/190401_r33985_rd.jpg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2019\/04\/01\/jair-bolsonaros-southern-strategy)\n\nA Reporter at Large\n\n[Jair Bolsonaro’s Southern Strategy](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2019\/04\/01\/jair-bolsonaros-southern-strategy)\n\n[![Jair Bolsonaro’s Southern Strategy](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/5c955a39301bde0a3b621ac5\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/190401_r33985_rd.jpg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2019\/04\/01\/jair-bolsonaros-southern-strategy)\n\nIn Brazil, a budding authoritarian borrows from the Trump playbook.\n\nBy Jon Lee Anderson\n\n[![Why the Amazon Fires Are Surging](https:\/\/dwgyu36up6iuz.cloudfront.net\/heru80fdn\/image\/upload\/c_fill%2Cd_placeholder_thescene.jpg%2Cfl_progressive%2Cg_center%2Ch_480%2Cq_80%2Cw_640\/v1566827875\/thenewyorker_the-amazon-forest-fires-are-stronger-than-ever-here-s-why.jpg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/video\/watch\/the-amazon-forest-fires-are-stronger-than-ever-here-s-why)\n\nVideo\n\n[Why the Amazon Fires Are Surging](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/video\/watch\/the-amazon-forest-fires-are-stronger-than-ever-here-s-why)\n\n[![Why the Amazon Fires Are Surging](https:\/\/dwgyu36up6iuz.cloudfront.net\/heru80fdn\/image\/upload\/c_fill%2Cd_placeholder_thescene.jpg%2Cfl_progressive%2Cg_center%2Ch_480%2Cq_80%2Cw_640\/v1566827875\/thenewyorker_the-amazon-forest-fires-are-stronger-than-ever-here-s-why.jpg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/video\/watch\/the-amazon-forest-fires-are-stronger-than-ever-here-s-why)\n\nWildfires have long occurred in the Amazon rain forest, but never on this scale. The New Yorker staff writer Jon Lee Anderson explains how they began, and what will happen if the planet’s great green lung continues to burn.\n\n[![The Forest Service “Reorganizes” Under Trump](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69d428b3951de74895c0940f\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/the-forest-service-a-force-across-rural-america-reorganizes-under-trump#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe Lede\n\n[The Forest Service “Reorganizes” Under Trump](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/the-forest-service-a-force-across-rural-america-reorganizes-under-trump#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![The Forest Service “Reorganizes” Under Trump](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69d428b3951de74895c0940f\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/the-forest-service-a-force-across-rural-america-reorganizes-under-trump#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe agency has been a force across rural America. The changes will make lots of room for lumber lobbyists, less for forest science.\n\nBy Bill McKibben\n\n[![How to Poison an Ocean](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69cd69abc6ea0f4558d6e37c\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/annals-of-a-warming-planet\/how-to-poison-an-ocean#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nElements\n\n[How to Poison an Ocean](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/annals-of-a-warming-planet\/how-to-poison-an-ocean#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![How to Poison an Ocean](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69cd69abc6ea0f4558d6e37c\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/annals-of-a-warming-planet\/how-to-poison-an-ocean#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nTrump envisions a new era of offshore oil drilling. Scientists know all too well how that story ends.\n\nBy Jeffrey Marlow\n\n[![How the Internet Fringe Infiltrated Republican Politics](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69cd3268f8f1289c024c57d1\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/13\/how-the-internet-fringe-infiltrated-republican-politics#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe Political Scene\n\n[How the Internet Fringe Infiltrated Republican Politics](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/13\/how-the-internet-fringe-infiltrated-republican-politics#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![How the Internet Fringe Infiltrated Republican Politics](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69cd3268f8f1289c024c57d1\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/13\/how-the-internet-fringe-infiltrated-republican-politics#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nInside the battle for the post-*MAGA* G.O.P.\n\nBy Antonia Hitchens\n\n[![Is Cuba Next?](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69bb16a4f307f74eb0161765\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/03\/30\/is-cuba-next#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nLetter from Havana\n\n[Is Cuba Next?](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/03\/30\/is-cuba-next#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![Is Cuba Next?](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69bb16a4f307f74eb0161765\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/03\/30\/is-cuba-next#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nTrump’s campaign to topple foreign adversaries encounters a battered but defiant regime.\n\nBy Jon Lee Anderson\n\n[![The Return of Staten Island’s Secession Movement](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69bdd7bbe9dfc3ee2ef2579a\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/the-return-of-staten-islands-secession-movement#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe Lede\n\n[The Return of Staten Island’s Secession Movement](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/the-return-of-staten-islands-secession-movement#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![The Return of Staten Island’s Secession Movement](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69bdd7bbe9dfc3ee2ef2579a\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/the-return-of-staten-islands-secession-movement#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nFor more than a hundred years, the city’s most isolated borough has threatened to leave. After the election of Zohran Mamdani, some on the island think it’s time.\n\nBy Naaman Zhou\n\n[![The Camps Promising to Turn You—or Your Son—Into an Alpha Male](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69c2ad88f2086f3780ce4502\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/06\/the-camps-promising-to-turn-you-or-your-son-into-an-alpha-male#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nAmerican Chronicles\n\n[The Camps Promising to Turn You—or Your Son—Into an Alpha Male](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/06\/the-camps-promising-to-turn-you-or-your-son-into-an-alpha-male#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![The Camps Promising to Turn You—or Your Son—Into an Alpha Male](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69c2ad88f2086f3780ce4502\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/06\/the-camps-promising-to-turn-you-or-your-son-into-an-alpha-male#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nAt the Men of War Crucible, you bear-crawl through rivers. At Warrior Week, you dig your own grave. At the Squire Program, your teen-ager can take part, too.\n\nBy Charles Bethea\n\n[![What Was Behind the T.S.A. Meltdown?](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69c714c05ad1071d577c10f3\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/06\/what-was-behind-the-tsa-meltdown#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nComment\n\n[What Was Behind the T.S.A. Meltdown?](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/06\/what-was-behind-the-tsa-meltdown#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![What Was Behind the T.S.A. Meltdown?](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69c714c05ad1071d577c10f3\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/06\/what-was-behind-the-tsa-meltdown#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe present mess has roots in two entangled, defining White House projects: *DOGE* and the mind-bending expansion of *ICE*.\n\nBy Benjamin Wallace-Wells\n\n[![A Former Prisoner of the Iranian Regime Watches Trump’s War](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69c16b6f351dd7188c09a95a\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/a-former-prisoner-of-the-iranian-regime-watches-trumps-war#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe Lede\n\n[A Former Prisoner of the Iranian Regime Watches Trump’s War](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/a-former-prisoner-of-the-iranian-regime-watches-trumps-war#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![A Former Prisoner of the Iranian Regime Watches Trump’s War](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69c16b6f351dd7188c09a95a\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/a-former-prisoner-of-the-iranian-regime-watches-trumps-war#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nA journalist who was wrongfully detained for five hundred and forty-four days never got to say goodbye to Tehran. Now he’s fielding messages about chaos and destruction in the home he left behind.\n\nBy Jason Rezaian\n\n[![What Would a Ground Invasion of Iran Look Like?](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69d540c9c6104821fff67508\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/what-would-a-ground-invasion-of-iran-look-like#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nThe Lede\n\n[What Would a Ground Invasion of Iran Look Like?](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/what-would-a-ground-invasion-of-iran-look-like#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\n[![What Would a Ground Invasion of Iran Look Like?](https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/69d540c9c6104821fff67508\/4:3\/w_640%2Cc_limit\/undefined)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/what-would-a-ground-invasion-of-iran-look-like#intcid=_the-new-yorker-article-bottom-recirc_c94cc755-f29f-448b-ab56-7c9195f60771_roberta-similarity1)\n\nAs a fragile ceasefire begins, Tehran is using lessons from the Iran-Iraq War to prepare for an American escalation.\n\nBy Sudarsan Raghavan\n\n[![The New Yorker](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/verso\/static\/thenewyorker-us\/assets\/logo-reverse.svg)](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/)\n\nSections\n\n- [News](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news)\n- [Books & Culture](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture)\n- [Fiction & Poetry](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/fiction-and-poetry)\n- [Humor & Cartoons](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/humor)\n- [Magazine](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/archive)\n- [Crossword](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/crossword-puzzles-and-games)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/video)\n- [Podcasts](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/podcast)\n- [100th Anniversary](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/100)\n- [Goings On](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/goings-on)\n\nMore\n\n- [Manage Account](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/account\/profile)\n- [Shop The New Yorker](https:\/\/store.newyorker.com\/)\n- [Buy Covers and Cartoons](https:\/\/condenaststore.com\/art\/new+yorker+covers)\n- [Condé Nast Store](https:\/\/condenaststore.com\/conde-nast-brand\/thenewyorker)\n- [Digital Access](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/about\/digital-access)\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/subscribe)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/newsletter)\n- [Jigsaw Puzzle](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/jigsaw)\n- [RSS](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/about\/feeds)\n- [Site Map](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/sitemap)\n\n- [About](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/about\/us)\n- [Careers](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/about\/careers)\n- [Contact](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/about\/contact)\n- [F.A.Q.](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/about\/faq)\n- [Media Kit](https:\/\/www.condenast.com\/advertising)\n- [Press](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/about\/press)\n- [Accessibility Help](https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/about\/accessibility-help)\n- [User Agreement](https:\/\/www.condenast.com\/user-agreement\/)\n- [Privacy Policy](http:\/\/www.condenast.com\/privacy-policy#privacypolicy)\n- [Your California Privacy Rights](http:\/\/www.condenast.com\/privacy-policy#privacypolicy-california)\n\n© 2026 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. *The New Yorker* may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. [Ad Choices](http:\/\/www.aboutads.info\/)\n\nYour Privacy Choices","attrs_readable_markdown":"In January, 2012, Jair Bolsonaro, who was then a retired military officer and colorful but not politically relevant far-right congressman, was caught fishing illegally in a federally protected marine-wildlife reserve. Bolsonaro—wearing a white, Speedo-like bathing suit—was discovered in a small, inflatable boat inside the Tamoios Ecological Station, an area with a half-mile radius that serves as a refuge for penguins, seals, whales, and dolphins in the state of Rio de Janeiro. An agent with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (*IBAMA*) issued Bolsonaro a ticket for ten thousand reais, or roughly twenty-five hundred dollars. The following year, Bolsonaro introduced [a bill](https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/poder\/2018\/10\/bolsonaro-retaliou-fiscais-do-ibama-apos-ser-multado-por-pesca-irregular.shtml) in the legislature that would have barred guards with *IBAMA* and other environmental agencies from carrying guns, although he was otherwise a longtime defender of gun-ownership rights in Brazil. Later that year, Bolsonaro filed to get [legal permission](https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/brazil-hunt-shoot-endangered-animals-jaguar-wildlife-rainforest-amazon-bolsonaro-a9055776.html) for him—and him alone—to fish in the Tamoios reserve. Ultimately, the [fine was dismissed](https:\/\/oglobo.globo.com\/brasil\/ibama-decide-que-multa-bolsonaro-por-pesca-irregular-esta-prescrita-23785720), the bill went nowhere in congress, and the courts decided it would be a bad idea to grant one lawmaker special permission to fish in a sanctuary.\n\nLast year, Bolsonaro was elected the President of Brazil, after running a nationalistic campaign that echoed, in many ways, the politics of Donald Trump. A climate-change skeptic, Bolsonaro argued that more land in the Amazon rainforest should be opened for farming, mining, and logging. Under his leadership, *IBAMA*’s budget has been cut by twenty-four per cent. Bolsonaro has also repeatedly threatened to transform the Tamoios reserve into a Brazilian Cancún, brimming with tourist hotels. The agent who wrote him the ticket for illegal fishing, back in 2012, [was fired](https:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/ambiente\/2019\/03\/ibama-exonera-servidor-que-multou-bolsonaro-por-pesca-irregular.shtml) from a senior government position. And Bolsonaro has installed opponents of environmental regulations in offices throughout his new administration.\n\nThis week, Bolsonaro’s disdain for environmental-protection measures attracted global attention when he initially rejected an offer of twenty million dollars in international aid to help fight forest fires burning in the Amazon. The proposed funding was one of the few concrete achievements to come out of the annual G-7 summit of the world’s largest democracies. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the meeting in the resort town of Biarritz, insisted that countering the fires should be a top priority. At first, Bolsonaro rejected the aid offer, citing an ongoing feud with Macron in which the two leaders have exchanged insults. Then he said that he would consider accepting the aid if Macron apologized. “He will have to withdraw his words, and then we can talk,” [Bolsonaro said](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/08\/26\/world\/europe\/bolsonaro-macron-g7.html?module=inline).\n\nScientists believe that the Amazon’s absorption of greenhouse gases plays a crucial role in slowing climate change. They have declared the spread of fires in the world’s largest rainforest a global crisis. As the forest shrinks, the region is growing progressively drier. [Scientists fear](https:\/\/www.economist.com\/briefing\/2019\/08\/01\/the-amazon-is-approaching-an-irreversible-tipping-point) that the Amazon could reach a tipping point where its gradual transformation into something closer to a steppe will be irreversible.\n\nBolsonaro has dismissed environmental groups’ concerns and encouraged loggers to deforest more of the Amazon. On August 10th, in what became known as [Fire Day](https:\/\/oglobo.globo.com\/sociedade\/mpf-investiga-promocao-do-dia-do-fogo-na-amazonia-23895877), farmers in the town of Novo Progresso, in the state of Pará, set fires on their properties to clear land and show their support for Bolsonaro. Satellites operated by Brazil’s space agency detected a surge of wildfires. Now the blazes are so widespread that, last week, smoke darkened the skies over São Paulo, thousands of miles to the south.\n\nBased on satellite data, space-agency officials estimate that the number of forest fires is eighty-three per cent larger than last year. Bolsonaro has dismissed these numbers as fake, called environmentalists’ focus on the Amazon a form of “environmental psychosis,” and fired the head of the space agency. The President also claimed that environmental N.G.O.s had set the fires to damage the image of his government.\n\nBolsonaro and his cabinet have rolled back environmental regulations across Brazil. His Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply is a former congresswoman known as the “queen of poison,” a reference to her effort to lift restrictions on the use of pesticides. Since Bolsonaro took office, in January, the agriculture ministry [has approved](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2019\/jun\/12\/hundreds-new-pesticides-approved-brazil-under-bolsonaro) hundreds of new pesticide products, some of which have been banned by the European Union. The new head of the Brazilian Forest Service supports allowing jaguars and other endangered species [to be hunted](https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/brazil-hunt-shoot-endangered-animals-jaguar-wildlife-rainforest-amazon-bolsonaro-a9055776.html) in the rainforest. For his environmental-policy czar, Bolsonaro chose an ally of agribusiness named Ricardo Salles, who had been sued when he served as the state environment secretary for São Paulo for [altering the borders](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2018\/dec\/20\/brazil-environmental-minister-still-likely-to-serve-bolsonaro-despite-misconduct) of an environmentally protected area “with the clear intention of benefiting economic sectors, notably mining.” After Salles was criticized by environmental organizations, Bolsonaro declared, “We got it right.”","meta_canonical":null}

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URL	https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn
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Meta Title	Jair Bolsonaro, the Trump Ally Who Is Allowing the Fires in the Amazon in Brazil to Burn \| The New Yorker
Meta Description	Carol Pires writes about the fires surging in the Amazon, and the hostile environmental policies of Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro.
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Boilerpipe Text	In January, 2012, Jair Bolsonaro, who was then a retired military officer and colorful but not politically relevant far-right congressman, was caught fishing illegally in a federally protected marine-wildlife reserve. Bolsonaro—wearing a white, Speedo-like bathing suit—was discovered in a small, inflatable boat inside the Tamoios Ecological Station, an area with a half-mile radius that serves as a refuge for penguins, seals, whales, and dolphins in the state of Rio de Janeiro. An agent with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ( IBAMA ) issued Bolsonaro a ticket for ten thousand reais, or roughly twenty-five hundred dollars. The following year, Bolsonaro introduced a bill in the legislature that would have barred guards with IBAMA and other environmental agencies from carrying guns, although he was otherwise a longtime defender of gun-ownership rights in Brazil. Later that year, Bolsonaro filed to get legal permission for him—and him alone—to fish in the Tamoios reserve. Ultimately, the fine was dismissed , the bill went nowhere in congress, and the courts decided it would be a bad idea to grant one lawmaker special permission to fish in a sanctuary. Last year, Bolsonaro was elected the President of Brazil, after running a nationalistic campaign that echoed, in many ways, the politics of Donald Trump. A climate-change skeptic, Bolsonaro argued that more land in the Amazon rainforest should be opened for farming, mining, and logging. Under his leadership, IBAMA ’s budget has been cut by twenty-four per cent. Bolsonaro has also repeatedly threatened to transform the Tamoios reserve into a Brazilian Cancún, brimming with tourist hotels. The agent who wrote him the ticket for illegal fishing, back in 2012, was fired from a senior government position. And Bolsonaro has installed opponents of environmental regulations in offices throughout his new administration. This week, Bolsonaro’s disdain for environmental-protection measures attracted global attention when he initially rejected an offer of twenty million dollars in international aid to help fight forest fires burning in the Amazon. The proposed funding was one of the few concrete achievements to come out of the annual G-7 summit of the world’s largest democracies. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the meeting in the resort town of Biarritz, insisted that countering the fires should be a top priority. At first, Bolsonaro rejected the aid offer, citing an ongoing feud with Macron in which the two leaders have exchanged insults. Then he said that he would consider accepting the aid if Macron apologized. “He will have to withdraw his words, and then we can talk,” Bolsonaro said . Scientists believe that the Amazon’s absorption of greenhouse gases plays a crucial role in slowing climate change. They have declared the spread of fires in the world’s largest rainforest a global crisis. As the forest shrinks, the region is growing progressively drier. Scientists fear that the Amazon could reach a tipping point where its gradual transformation into something closer to a steppe will be irreversible. Bolsonaro has dismissed environmental groups’ concerns and encouraged loggers to deforest more of the Amazon. On August 10th, in what became known as Fire Day , farmers in the town of Novo Progresso, in the state of Pará, set fires on their properties to clear land and show their support for Bolsonaro. Satellites operated by Brazil’s space agency detected a surge of wildfires. Now the blazes are so widespread that, last week, smoke darkened the skies over São Paulo, thousands of miles to the south. Based on satellite data, space-agency officials estimate that the number of forest fires is eighty-three per cent larger than last year. Bolsonaro has dismissed these numbers as fake, called environmentalists’ focus on the Amazon a form of “environmental psychosis,” and fired the head of the space agency. The President also claimed that environmental N.G.O.s had set the fires to damage the image of his government. Bolsonaro and his cabinet have rolled back environmental regulations across Brazil. His Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply is a former congresswoman known as the “queen of poison,” a reference to her effort to lift restrictions on the use of pesticides. Since Bolsonaro took office, in January, the agriculture ministry has approved hundreds of new pesticide products, some of which have been banned by the European Union. The new head of the Brazilian Forest Service supports allowing jaguars and other endangered species to be hunted in the rainforest. For his environmental-policy czar, Bolsonaro chose an ally of agribusiness named Ricardo Salles, who had been sued when he served as the state environment secretary for São Paulo for altering the borders of an environmentally protected area “with the clear intention of benefiting economic sectors, notably mining.” After Salles was criticized by environmental organizations, Bolsonaro declared, “We got it right.”
Markdown	[Skip to main content](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn#main-content) [![The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/verso/static/thenewyorker-us/assets/logo.svg)](https://www.newyorker.com/) - [Newsletter](https://www.newyorker.com/newsletters?sourceCode=navbar) [Sign In](https://www.newyorker.com/auth/initiate?redirectURL=%2Fnews%2Fnews-desk%2Fthe-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn&source=VERSO_NAVIGATION) Search - [The Latest](https://www.newyorker.com/latest) - [News](https://www.newyorker.com/news) - [Books & Culture](https://www.newyorker.com/culture) - [Fiction & Poetry](https://www.newyorker.com/fiction-and-poetry) - [Humor & Cartoons](https://www.newyorker.com/humor) - [Magazine](https://www.newyorker.com/archive) - [Puzzles & Games](https://www.newyorker.com/crossword-puzzles-and-games) - [Video](https://www.newyorker.com/video) - [Podcasts](https://www.newyorker.com/podcasts) - [Goings On](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on) - [Shop](https://store.newyorker.com/) Open Navigation Menu [![The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/verso/static/thenewyorker-us/assets/logo-header.svg)](https://www.newyorker.com/) [News Desk](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk) # The Trump Ally Who Is Allowing the Amazon to Burn By [Carol Pires](https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/carol-pires) August 28, 2019 ![A fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest.](https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5d658bd077ed9800080163aa/master/w_2560%2Cc_limit/Pires-AmazonFires.jpg) As fires have surged in the Amazon, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s disdain for environmental-protection measures has drawn international attention.Photograph by Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters Save this story Save this story In January, 2012, Jair Bolsonaro, who was then a retired military officer and colorful but not politically relevant far-right congressman, was caught fishing illegally in a federally protected marine-wildlife reserve. Bolsonaro—wearing a white, Speedo-like bathing suit—was discovered in a small, inflatable boat inside the Tamoios Ecological Station, an area with a half-mile radius that serves as a refuge for penguins, seals, whales, and dolphins in the state of Rio de Janeiro. An agent with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) issued Bolsonaro a ticket for ten thousand reais, or roughly twenty-five hundred dollars. The following year, Bolsonaro introduced [a bill](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2018/10/bolsonaro-retaliou-fiscais-do-ibama-apos-ser-multado-por-pesca-irregular.shtml) in the legislature that would have barred guards with IBAMA and other environmental agencies from carrying guns, although he was otherwise a longtime defender of gun-ownership rights in Brazil. Later that year, Bolsonaro filed to get [legal permission](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazil-hunt-shoot-endangered-animals-jaguar-wildlife-rainforest-amazon-bolsonaro-a9055776.html) for him—and him alone—to fish in the Tamoios reserve. Ultimately, the [fine was dismissed](https://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/ibama-decide-que-multa-bolsonaro-por-pesca-irregular-esta-prescrita-23785720), the bill went nowhere in congress, and the courts decided it would be a bad idea to grant one lawmaker special permission to fish in a sanctuary. Last year, Bolsonaro was elected the President of Brazil, after running a nationalistic campaign that echoed, in many ways, the politics of Donald Trump. A climate-change skeptic, Bolsonaro argued that more land in the Amazon rainforest should be opened for farming, mining, and logging. Under his leadership, IBAMA’s budget has been cut by twenty-four per cent. Bolsonaro has also repeatedly threatened to transform the Tamoios reserve into a Brazilian Cancún, brimming with tourist hotels. The agent who wrote him the ticket for illegal fishing, back in 2012, [was fired](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ambiente/2019/03/ibama-exonera-servidor-que-multou-bolsonaro-por-pesca-irregular.shtml) from a senior government position. And Bolsonaro has installed opponents of environmental regulations in offices throughout his new administration. This week, Bolsonaro’s disdain for environmental-protection measures attracted global attention when he initially rejected an offer of twenty million dollars in international aid to help fight forest fires burning in the Amazon. The proposed funding was one of the few concrete achievements to come out of the annual G-7 summit of the world’s largest democracies. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the meeting in the resort town of Biarritz, insisted that countering the fires should be a top priority. At first, Bolsonaro rejected the aid offer, citing an ongoing feud with Macron in which the two leaders have exchanged insults. Then he said that he would consider accepting the aid if Macron apologized. “He will have to withdraw his words, and then we can talk,” [Bolsonaro said](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/world/europe/bolsonaro-macron-g7.html?module=inline). Scientists believe that the Amazon’s absorption of greenhouse gases plays a crucial role in slowing climate change. They have declared the spread of fires in the world’s largest rainforest a global crisis. As the forest shrinks, the region is growing progressively drier. [Scientists fear](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/08/01/the-amazon-is-approaching-an-irreversible-tipping-point) that the Amazon could reach a tipping point where its gradual transformation into something closer to a steppe will be irreversible. Video From The New Yorker [Swift Justice: A Taliban Courtroom in Session](https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/the-new-yorker-documentary-swift-justice-a-taliban-courtroom-in-session) Bolsonaro has dismissed environmental groups’ concerns and encouraged loggers to deforest more of the Amazon. On August 10th, in what became known as [Fire Day](https://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/mpf-investiga-promocao-do-dia-do-fogo-na-amazonia-23895877), farmers in the town of Novo Progresso, in the state of Pará, set fires on their properties to clear land and show their support for Bolsonaro. Satellites operated by Brazil’s space agency detected a surge of wildfires. Now the blazes are so widespread that, last week, smoke darkened the skies over São Paulo, thousands of miles to the south. Based on satellite data, space-agency officials estimate that the number of forest fires is eighty-three per cent larger than last year. Bolsonaro has dismissed these numbers as fake, called environmentalists’ focus on the Amazon a form of “environmental psychosis,” and fired the head of the space agency. The President also claimed that environmental N.G.O.s had set the fires to damage the image of his government. Bolsonaro and his cabinet have rolled back environmental regulations across Brazil. His Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply is a former congresswoman known as the “queen of poison,” a reference to her effort to lift restrictions on the use of pesticides. Since Bolsonaro took office, in January, the agriculture ministry [has approved](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/12/hundreds-new-pesticides-approved-brazil-under-bolsonaro) hundreds of new pesticide products, some of which have been banned by the European Union. The new head of the Brazilian Forest Service supports allowing jaguars and other endangered species [to be hunted](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazil-hunt-shoot-endangered-animals-jaguar-wildlife-rainforest-amazon-bolsonaro-a9055776.html) in the rainforest. For his environmental-policy czar, Bolsonaro chose an ally of agribusiness named Ricardo Salles, who had been sued when he served as the state environment secretary for São Paulo for [altering the borders](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/20/brazil-environmental-minister-still-likely-to-serve-bolsonaro-despite-misconduct) of an environmentally protected area “with the clear intention of benefiting economic sectors, notably mining.” After Salles was criticized by environmental organizations, Bolsonaro declared, “We got it right.” IBAMA agents [have reported](https://veja.abril.com.br/politica/madeireiros-usam-discurso-do-governo-bolsonaro-para-intimidar-ibama/) being met with increasingly violent responses from miners and forestry workers as they perform their environmental-protection duties. When officials from the agency destroyed equipment used in environmental crime in the Amazon, as per regulations, [Bolsonaro criticized them](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ambiente/2019/04/bolsonaro-desautoriza-operacao-em-andamento-do-ibama-contra-madeira-ilegal-em-ro.shtml), saying that the government “fine industry” should be shut down. In October, inspectors were stopped halfway across a bridge in an indigenous reserve in the northern state of Rondônia by a group of loggers carrying machetes and sticks. One inspector reported that one of the loggers said, “Now that Bolsonaro has won, this indigenous-land nonsense is over. It’ll all be ours.” In the state of Pará, individuals with links to illegal logging [burned down](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ambiente/2019/07/madeireiros-incendeiam-pontes-da-transamazonica-em-protesto-contra-o-ibama.shtml) two bridges on the Trans-Amazonian Highway, in retaliation for a crackdown by IBAMA in the area. Since Bolsonaro took office, the agency has carried out no major operations to slow deforestation, and the number of fines imposed by the agency has sunk to its [lowest level since 1995](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ambiente/2019/03/ibama-tem-inicio-de-ano-com-menor-quantidade-de-multas-aplicadas-desde-1995.shtml). On the eve of the G-7 summit, Macron called the fires an “[ecocide](https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/08/23/world/americas/23reuters-g7-summit-amazon.html?searchResultPosition=1)” and threatened to block the free-trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur, a trade bloc consisting of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Bolsonaro responded by endorsing a post on Facebook that said that the French First Lady, Brigitte Macron, was unattractive. [Recent opinion polls](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics-poll/public-support-for-brazil-president-bolsonaro-eroding-poll-idUSKCN1TS2WV) have shown a decline in public support for Bolsonaro, as the country’s economy has been slow to recover from a deep recession, and scandals have beset his government. Bolsonaro, however, continues to have one strong supporter. On Tuesday, Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1166357258726498304), “He is working very hard on the Amazon fires and in all respects doing a great job for the people of Brazil - Not easy. He and his country have the full and complete support of the USA!” More:[Brazil](https://www.newyorker.com/tag/brazil)[Jair Bolsonaro](https://www.newyorker.com/tag/jair-bolsonaro)[Donald Trump](https://www.newyorker.com/tag/donald-trump)[Emmanuel Macron](https://www.newyorker.com/tag/emmanuel-macron)[Amazon](https://www.newyorker.com/tag/amazon) ### The News & Politics Newsletter Read the latest from Washington and beyond, covering current events, the economy, and more, from our columnists and correspondents. 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The New Yorker staff writer Jon Lee Anderson explains how they began, and what will happen if the planet’s great green lung continues to burn. 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Readable Markdown	In January, 2012, Jair Bolsonaro, who was then a retired military officer and colorful but not politically relevant far-right congressman, was caught fishing illegally in a federally protected marine-wildlife reserve. Bolsonaro—wearing a white, Speedo-like bathing suit—was discovered in a small, inflatable boat inside the Tamoios Ecological Station, an area with a half-mile radius that serves as a refuge for penguins, seals, whales, and dolphins in the state of Rio de Janeiro. An agent with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) issued Bolsonaro a ticket for ten thousand reais, or roughly twenty-five hundred dollars. The following year, Bolsonaro introduced [a bill](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2018/10/bolsonaro-retaliou-fiscais-do-ibama-apos-ser-multado-por-pesca-irregular.shtml) in the legislature that would have barred guards with IBAMA and other environmental agencies from carrying guns, although he was otherwise a longtime defender of gun-ownership rights in Brazil. Later that year, Bolsonaro filed to get [legal permission](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazil-hunt-shoot-endangered-animals-jaguar-wildlife-rainforest-amazon-bolsonaro-a9055776.html) for him—and him alone—to fish in the Tamoios reserve. Ultimately, the [fine was dismissed](https://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/ibama-decide-que-multa-bolsonaro-por-pesca-irregular-esta-prescrita-23785720), the bill went nowhere in congress, and the courts decided it would be a bad idea to grant one lawmaker special permission to fish in a sanctuary. Last year, Bolsonaro was elected the President of Brazil, after running a nationalistic campaign that echoed, in many ways, the politics of Donald Trump. A climate-change skeptic, Bolsonaro argued that more land in the Amazon rainforest should be opened for farming, mining, and logging. Under his leadership, IBAMA’s budget has been cut by twenty-four per cent. Bolsonaro has also repeatedly threatened to transform the Tamoios reserve into a Brazilian Cancún, brimming with tourist hotels. The agent who wrote him the ticket for illegal fishing, back in 2012, [was fired](https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ambiente/2019/03/ibama-exonera-servidor-que-multou-bolsonaro-por-pesca-irregular.shtml) from a senior government position. And Bolsonaro has installed opponents of environmental regulations in offices throughout his new administration. This week, Bolsonaro’s disdain for environmental-protection measures attracted global attention when he initially rejected an offer of twenty million dollars in international aid to help fight forest fires burning in the Amazon. The proposed funding was one of the few concrete achievements to come out of the annual G-7 summit of the world’s largest democracies. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the meeting in the resort town of Biarritz, insisted that countering the fires should be a top priority. At first, Bolsonaro rejected the aid offer, citing an ongoing feud with Macron in which the two leaders have exchanged insults. Then he said that he would consider accepting the aid if Macron apologized. “He will have to withdraw his words, and then we can talk,” [Bolsonaro said](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/world/europe/bolsonaro-macron-g7.html?module=inline). Scientists believe that the Amazon’s absorption of greenhouse gases plays a crucial role in slowing climate change. They have declared the spread of fires in the world’s largest rainforest a global crisis. As the forest shrinks, the region is growing progressively drier. [Scientists fear](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/08/01/the-amazon-is-approaching-an-irreversible-tipping-point) that the Amazon could reach a tipping point where its gradual transformation into something closer to a steppe will be irreversible. Bolsonaro has dismissed environmental groups’ concerns and encouraged loggers to deforest more of the Amazon. On August 10th, in what became known as [Fire Day](https://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/mpf-investiga-promocao-do-dia-do-fogo-na-amazonia-23895877), farmers in the town of Novo Progresso, in the state of Pará, set fires on their properties to clear land and show their support for Bolsonaro. Satellites operated by Brazil’s space agency detected a surge of wildfires. Now the blazes are so widespread that, last week, smoke darkened the skies over São Paulo, thousands of miles to the south. Based on satellite data, space-agency officials estimate that the number of forest fires is eighty-three per cent larger than last year. Bolsonaro has dismissed these numbers as fake, called environmentalists’ focus on the Amazon a form of “environmental psychosis,” and fired the head of the space agency. The President also claimed that environmental N.G.O.s had set the fires to damage the image of his government. Bolsonaro and his cabinet have rolled back environmental regulations across Brazil. His Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply is a former congresswoman known as the “queen of poison,” a reference to her effort to lift restrictions on the use of pesticides. Since Bolsonaro took office, in January, the agriculture ministry [has approved](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/12/hundreds-new-pesticides-approved-brazil-under-bolsonaro) hundreds of new pesticide products, some of which have been banned by the European Union. The new head of the Brazilian Forest Service supports allowing jaguars and other endangered species [to be hunted](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazil-hunt-shoot-endangered-animals-jaguar-wildlife-rainforest-amazon-bolsonaro-a9055776.html) in the rainforest. For his environmental-policy czar, Bolsonaro chose an ally of agribusiness named Ricardo Salles, who had been sued when he served as the state environment secretary for São Paulo for [altering the borders](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/20/brazil-environmental-minister-still-likely-to-serve-bolsonaro-despite-misconduct) of an environmentally protected area “with the clear intention of benefiting economic sectors, notably mining.” After Salles was criticized by environmental organizations, Bolsonaro declared, “We got it right.”
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