President Jair Bolsonaro said at a meeting with the MERCOSUR summit, held on July 2, this year, that he will devise measures to reverse misrepresented opinions abroad about the environmental policies adopted in Brazil.

Bolsonaro also stressed that the coming months will be very difficult, as he will have to reconcile the recovery of the economy with health guidelines related to the preservation of lives. According to the president, the pandemic had a major impact on the economy.

In addition, the defense of the reformist agenda and the need for new economic partnerships in the bloc were stated: protection of Indians ”.

However, in the month prior to the meeting, Brazil recorded the highest number of fires in the Amazon Region in the last thirteen years. Approximately 2,200 hot spots were recorded in the previous month, figures that have not been reached since 2007.

As a result, an increase of about 20% can be seen in relation to the previous year. In 2019, the number was approximately 1900 hot spots.

MERCOSUR comprises the countries Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Until 2017, Venezuela was part of the bloc, but its participation was interrupted due to attacks on democracy.

Questioned Bolsonaro said that Venezuela should resume as soon as possible the path of individual rights and guarantees. And he regretted the lack of participation by Bolivia, which is still in the process of joining the bloc: “that we all continue to defend MERCOSUR’s commitment to democracy”.

The Head of State also stated that MERCOSUR is a great ally for its reforms that the government has been trying to carry out: “our objective is to make the country and the economy more efficient”.

Also according to Bolsonaro: “In 2019 we managed to approve the pension reform. We are now looking for other reforms. We seek improvements in business, attract more investments, and improve the Brazilian infrastructure ”.

“We want Brazil to insert itself more and more into the world. And MERCOSUR is our main ally for this objective. The agreements signed in the previous year with the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) show that we are achieving our goals ”.

Jair said he wants more than free trade signed with the European Union, which still needs approval. In this sense, it seeks more agreements with the whole continent.

“We seek to agree with Canada, Korea, Singapore, and Lebanon. Increase the scope of agreements in force with Israel and India and cover more countries in Asia. We also want to deal with Central American countries ”.

What are the hotspots?

Heat sources are monitored by the Time Research and Climate Studies Center (CPTEC) of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) by examining satellite images that monitor the Earth’s surface daily.

There are differences between hot spots, fires, and fires. When talking about hot spots they are related to the existence of temperatures above the amount of 47 ° C, but that does not necessarily contain fire or fire.

Queimada is related to an archaic practice that aims to renew the pastures that can be used to:

• Agriculture;
• Livestock

Roughly speaking, fires must be carried out under favorable conditions in order to control fires and avoid reaching catastrophic levels.

Finally, forest fires are related to uncontrolled fire on any form of vegetation, biome, among others. They can be provoked:

• By man himself negligently or willfully;
• Natural causes, such as sunlight.

However, although hot spots are not synonymous with forest fires themselves, they are an alarm for the start of these uncontrolled fires that devastate biomes. Therefore, it is necessary to be fully alert to the increase of hot spots.

Deforestation harms Brazil’s image in the international market

The increase in recent burning times in the Amazon Region has eroded Brazil’s image in the international market. Several headlines and criticisms have printed communication vehicles of great importance in several foreign countries.

The impression that has been happening abroad is that Brazil has placed a risk on the global climate. This has generated fear and fear in people.

With that, some concrete losses could be observed. Germany and Norway even went back on financial aid to combat deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

On the European continent, the countries of France, Austria, and the Netherlands are opposed to the free trade agreement between MERCOSUR and the European Union due to the lack of protection for the Amazon.

On the other hand, the pandemic has again put Brazil in international headlines in a way never seen before. Government positions contrary to the established by the World Health Organization (WHO) served, even more, to erode the image of Brazil abroad.

To make matters worse, when COVID-19 case numbers began to rise, the country was known for firing former health minister: Luiz Henrique Mandetta. This followed international recommendations:

• Social isolation;
• Quarantine;
• Hygiene;
• Interruption of face-to-face activities, among others;

In addition, 28 days after a new minister was admitted, Nelson Teich resigned. And the headlines abroad again alarm the image worn in Brazil and contrary to health and environmental policies. In addition, Sérgio Moro resigned, a name better known abroad for his role in the car wash.

In such a way, with the increase in the number of cases related to the coronavirus in Brazil and the contradictory ideas of the Brazilian government, neighboring countries began to worry about their borders.

Therefore, border easing measures have been extended. The Paraguayan government even dug pits to prevent Brazilian vehicles from entering their territories.

In Argentina, several Brazilians living in that country came to report that they were victims of xenophobia.

In the U.S., Trump banned the entry of people who had been in Brazil in the last 14 days. Finally, to further heighten global distrust, the Brazilian government even hid data and statistics on those killed and infected by COVID-19.