My country has been on the verge of socialism, which has put us in a state of widespread corruption, serious economic recession, high criminality rat… - Jair Bolsonaro

Our Amazon rainforest is larger than Western Europe and it remains virtually untouched. This shows that we are one of the countries that protects the most its environment. This time of the year, dry weather and winds favor both spontaneous and criminal fires. It is also important to mention that indigenous and local populations also use fire as part of their culture and means of survival. All countries have their issues. However, the sensationalist attacks we have suffered from much of the international media due to the Amazon fires have aroused our patriotic sentiment. It is a misconception to state that the Amazon is a world heritage; and it is a misconception, as scientists attest, to say that our forest is the lung of the world. Resorting to these fallacies, some countries, instead of helping, have followed the lies of the media and behaved disrespectfully, with a colonialist spirit. They have questioned what is most sacred to us: our sovereignty! One of them, at the last G7 meeting, dared to suggest imposing sanctions against Brazil without even listening to us.

The interest in the Amazon isn't in the Indian or the fucking tree, it's in the mining. Raoni speaks for his village, speaks as a citizen, [but] doesn't speak for all the Indians, no. He's another one who lives drinking champagne in other countries out there. The world often criticizes the prospector. The cowardice that they do with the environment, as companies from various countries of the world do here in Brazil, no one touches the subject because the bribe, it seems, runs wild.

With such a CV I should not have even been elected as a municipal councilor. The people understood that an innocent was being shot at.