Lula suggests involvement of Bolsonaro supporters like Malafaia in criminal fires

247 - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suggested on Tuesday (17), in Brasília (DF), that Bolsonaro supporter Pastor Silas Malafaia might be involved in the fires in Brazil. "A very important person in organizing the September 7th rally in Paulista said that 'Brazil will catch fire,'" stated the head of state. The pastor made this comment in August when he used social media to summon supporters of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to a protest scheduled for September 7. The Federal Police has opened 52 investigations to investigate the causes of the fires in the country.

Brazil faces a severe scenario of wildfires and forest fires in 2024. From January to August, fires ravaged 11.39 million hectares, according to data from the Fire Monitor MapBiomas, released on the 12th. According to the survey, 5.65 million hectares – an area equivalent to the state of Paraíba – were consumed by fire in August alone, accounting for 49% of the total for the year.

In his speech, Lula commented on the fires. "In Brazil, we weren't prepared to handle these things. Few states have firefighters and brigade members. Nature decided to show its claws and give us a lesson," the president said.

In the past two days, Brazil accounted for 71.9% of all fires recorded in South America. According to data from the BDQueimadas system, of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), 7,322 fire outbreaks were registered in the 48 hours until Friday (13). Next in line were Bolivia, with 1,137 outbreaks (11.2%); Peru, with 842 (8.3%); Argentina, with 433 (4.3%); and Paraguay, with 271 (2.7%) fire outbreaks over the last 48 hours.

Considering the cumulative total for the year until yesterday, Brazil recorded 180,137 fire outbreaks in 2024, representing 50.6% of South America's fires. This figure is 108% higher than in the same period in 2023, when 86,256 outbreaks were recorded between January and September 13.

Among Brazilian states, Mato Grosso leads the ranking, with 1,379 outbreaks in the last 48 hours, followed by Amazonas with 1,205, Pará with 1,001, and Acre with 513 outbreaks. The municipality with the highest number of fires during this period was Cáceres (MT), which registered 237 outbreaks in the last 48 hours. Novo Aripuanã (AM) and São Félix do Xingu (PA) follow with 204 and 187 fire outbreaks, respectively.

The Amazon was the most affected region, concentrating 49% of the areas hit by fire in the last 48 hours. Following were the Cerrado (30.5%), the Atlantic Forest (13.2%), the Pantanal (5.4%), and the Caatinga, with 1.9%.