On Thursday, April 30, the official acts were published expressing the change in command positions of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA). The measure was taken by the Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles, and by the president of the environmental agency, Eduardo Brim.
The positions affected by the decision were those of the General Coordination of Environmental Inspection and the Coordination of Inspection Operations. The change, therefore, directly affects the leadership of actions taken by environmental protection inspectors.
The measure draws attention due to the presence of a series of inconsistencies that suggests that the current situation of the Brazilian Federal Government has other interests than the protection of the Amazon region against illegal actions that constitute environmental crimes.
In the following topics, check out more details about the resignations, the new nominees to the positions, and the general context in which these decisions are being made.
The decision does not respect the promised “technical criteria”
The appointments made by the Minister breach one of the parameters promised by the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, for the appointment of occupants to public positions.
Previously, the president’s speech indicated that his entire government would be set up on the basis of due compliance with technical criteria. That is, in order for someone to occupy a position, the person indicated should have the necessary skills for the position in question.
This parameter was not met by the Minister of the Environment in the current replacement of IBAMA coordinators.
Comparing the history of former coordinators with that of current
A brief comparison of the history of the current nominees for the coordination positions in relation to the professional trajectory of their predecessors is sufficient to note the inconsistency of the measure taken by the ministry.
Both Renê Luiz de Oliveira, who held the position of general coordinator of Environmental Inspection, and Hugo Ferreira Netto Loss, who served as coordinator of Inspection Operations, are career servants. Both have technical profiles compatible with their positions and, in addition, they are well regarded by IBAMA employees. Oliveira, for example, has a history perfectly compatible with the position he held. The former general coordinator is an environmental analyst, a veterinarian by training and had been at the Institute for 15 years.
The position of general coordinator of Environmental Inspection is now held by Walter Mendes Magalhães Júnior, colonel of the Military Police (PM) reserve of São Paulo. Magalhães Jr. is a former commander of the Ronda Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar (ROTA), a troop of the General Command of the PM of São Paulo famous for his highly violent action.
The current general coordinator has a brief history of work in the Environment sector, having already served as IBAMA superintendent in the state of Pará. At the time, the colonel had also been appointed by Minister Salles.
During the seven-month period in which he held the position of superintendent, the colonel authorized exports of wood without these having the necessary license. Considering that the export should have a license issued by IBAMA, the former superintendent betrayed the principles of the very body for which he was working.
The board of the institute has also undergone arbitrary changes
This is not the first exoneration that the current government has undertaken in a totally arbitrary manner and without technical justifications.
The position of Environmental Protection director was held by Olivaldi Azevedo
To replace the former director, Olímpio Magalhães was appointed, another reserve colonel of the São Paulo PM.
This fact does not specifically represent a replacement of a professional in the area of environmental preservation for a colonel, as Azevedo is a former lieutenant colonel. However, it is noteworthy the occasion when the director until then was dismissed by the government. The decision came on April 13, the day after Globo TV’s Fantástico program aired a report on actions against illegal gold miners in Pará.
Suspected retaliation
IBAMA officials consider the possibility that the appointments were made as a form of retaliation against operations that the institute undertook to combat environmental crimes carried out in the region.
The two former coordinators were removed from their posts two weeks after leading a major operation in the region. The operation was carried out to combat illegal mining.
The reaction of the current president and director of IBAMA to the attempts to contest the substitution also causes distrust.
In an attitude contrary to the substitutions, a letter was sent to the organ’s presidency in which 16 technicians defended the work that was being done by Renê Luiz at the head of the sector. Apparently, the office was left unanswered by the current president of the Institute.
Hugo Ferreira Netto Loss also officially stated his desire to remain in the position of Inspection Operations coordinator, where he had been showing good results in the development of inspection work and in the conduct of investigations of environmental crimes. Loss’s request was denied by director Olímpio Ferreira Magalhães.
What is behind all this?
In view of these facts, it is possible to question the reason for appointing to the post of general supervisory coordination a professional who, when he was only superintendent, has already acted in a manner contrary to the interests of the Institute. The nomination leads to the belief that there are two possible motivations for the dismissal, or that the ministry is not following the recent events of the environmental policy scenario with due attention, which seems unlikely, or that the measures are aimed at making the achievement increasingly easier. activities such as:
• exports without a license; • fires; • deforestation; • invasions of indigenous territories; • illegal mining.
It is not new to present evidence that the Jair Bolsonaro government is at the service of the interests of enterprises that profit from the execution of illegal activities in the Amazon rainforest. Both the preservation of environmental areas and the demarcation of indigenous lands have been under severe attack over the past few years.
With the interference of the current government in the bodies responsible for defending the region’s environmental and cultural preservation, the perspective is that the situation will be even more aggravated over the next few months.