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Brazil's Bolsonaro Suggests NGOs Setting Amazon Fires, Gives No Proof

Associated Press

   RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's official monitoring agency is reporting a
   sharp increase in wildfires this year, and President Jair Bolsonaro
   suggested Wednesday, without citing evidence, that non-governmental
   organizations could be setting them to make him look bad.

   Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, a federal agency
   monitoring deforestation and wildfires, said the country has seen a
   record number of wildfires this year, counting 74,155 as of Tuesday, an
   84 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Bolsonaro
   took office on Jan. 1.

   "Maybe -- I am not affirming it -- these (ONG people) are carrying out
   some criminal actions to draw attention against me, against the
   government of Brazil," Bolsonaro said in a video posted on his Facebook
   account. "This is the war we are facing."

   When asked by reporters if he had evidence, the president did not
   provide any.

   The states that have been most affected by fires this year are Mato
   Grosso, Para and Amazonas -- all in the Amazon region -- accounting for
   41.7 percent of all fires.

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