Jair Bolsonaro hits out at Leonardo DiCaprio after actor makes plea over Brazil’s elections
Hollywood star and environmentalist says what happens in Amazon rainforest is ‘driving change for healthy planet’
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Your support makes all the difference.Jair Bolsonaro has hit back at Leonardo DiCaprio after the actor called on young people in Brazil to vote in the country’s upcoming general election.
“Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change,” the Hollywood star and environmentalist tweeted, alongside a link to information on how to register to vote. “What happens there matters to us all and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet.”
The Brazilian president, who has been widely criticised by environmental groups for cutting protections, replied with sarcasm. “Thanks for your support, Leo! It’s really important to have every Brazilian voting in the coming elections.Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or to be ruled by crooks who serve foreign special interest. Good job in The Revenant!”, he said.
Mr Bolsonaro later shared a screenshot of an Instagram post by the actor, saying: “By the way, the picture you posted to talk about the wildfires in the Amazon in 2019 is from 2003. There are people who want to arrest Brazilian citizens who make this kind of mistake here in our country. But I’m against this tyrannical idea. So I forgive you. Hugs from Brazil!”
This is not the first time the two have clashed. In 2019, Mr Bolsonaro made false claims that the Oscar winner’s environmental organisation Earth Alliance donated $5m to local environmental groups, which he alleged were responsible for starting the Amazon forest fires.
In a statement published on his Instagram account at the time, Mr DiCaprio denied he funded the groups involved. Environmental organisations argued Mr Bolsonaro was instead responsible for the rise in forest fires in the Amazon due to his rollback on deforestation restrictions.
The large-scale deforestation of the Amazon – the world’s largest rainforest – has intensified under the leadership of the right-wing populist president and hit record levels for the months of January and February this year.
Research by forestry engineer Ralph Trancoso last year found in the decade prior to Mr Bolsonaro’s election in 2019, the annual deforestation rate of the Amazon was 2,507 square miles.
Now 4,281 square miles are being cleared every year, the report said, citing data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, which has been monitoring Amazon deforestation since 1971.
Mr Trancoso put the stark increase down to illegal loggers feeling emboldened to act by the president’s indifference to the climate crisis and conservation.
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