International
Brazilian Amazon deforestation falls, but up 60 % under Bolsonaro
| By AFP |
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon destroyed an area bigger than Qatar in the 12 months through July, according to official figures released Wednesday, which showed a decline from the year before — but a sharp increase overall under outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.
In the latest grim news on the world’s biggest rainforest, satellite monitoring showed 11 568 square kilometers (4 466 square miles) of forest cover was destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon from August 2021 to July 2022, according to national space agency INPE’s annual deforestation tracking program, PRODES.
The figure was a decrease of 11.3 percent from the year before, when INPE detected 13,038 square kilometers of deforestation — a 15-year high.
But it closed out four years of what environmentalists call disastrous management of the Amazon under the far-right Bolsonaro, whose successor, veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has vowed to work toward zero deforestation when he takes office on January 1.
Under agribusiness ally Bolsonaro, average annual deforestation rose by 59.5 percent from the previous four years, and by 75.5 percent from the previous decade, according to INPE figures.
“The Bolsonaro government was a forest-destroying machine… The only good news is that it’s about to end,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a coalition of environmental groups.
“The devastation remains out of control. Jair Bolsonaro will hand his successor a filthy legacy of surging deforestation and an Amazon in flames,” he said in a statement, urging ex-president Lula (2003-2010) — who has faced criticism over his own environmental record — to show “zero tolerance” for environmental crimes.
Experts say the vast majority of the clear-cutting and fires erasing the Amazon is aimed at turning rainforest into farmland — especially for cattle ranches in Brazil, the world’s top beef exporter.
Activists accuse Bolsonaro of gutting Brazil’s environmental protection programs and encouraging the destruction with his pro-agribusiness and pro-mining policies.
“The Amazon is getting closer and closer to a tipping point,” Mariana Napolitano, science director at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Brazil office, said in a statement.
“Significantly reducing deforestation… is imperative for humankind in the face of the twin climate and nature crises the world is facing.”
International
U.S. Sanctions Network Linked to Fentanyl Trafficking Across India, Guatemala and Mexico
The United States Department of State announced sanctions on Thursday against 23 individuals and companies allegedly linked to an international fentanyl production and smuggling network operating in India, Guatemala and Mexico.
According to the State Department, the network supplied precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel, which the United States has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Washington declared fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, a weapon of mass destruction last year due to its role in the ongoing overdose crisis in the United States.
“By targeting the entire supply chain — from chemical suppliers in Asia to logistical intermediaries in Central America and cartel-linked networks in Mexico — the Trump Administration is dismantling networks that destabilize governance across our hemisphere and threaten U.S. security,” the State Department said.
In a separate statement, the Office of Foreign Assets Control detailed sanctions against three Indian chemical and pharmaceutical companies: Sutaria, Agrat and SR Chemicals, along with a sales executive accused of supplying precursor chemicals to contacts in Guatemala and Mexico.
In Guatemala, authorities sanctioned J and C Import and Central Logística de Servicios, as well as intermediary Jaime Augusto Barrientos.
The OFAC also designated several intermediaries and import companies operating in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
As part of the investigation, U.S. authorities identified Ramiro Baltazar Félix as a member of Los Mayos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Alejandro Reynoso, accused of operating clandestine drug laboratories in Guadalajara.
International
Pope Leo XIV Says Countries Have Border Rights but Migrants Deserve Respect
Pope Leo XIV said Thursday that migrants must be treated with dignity as he addressed the global migration crisis during a press conference aboard the plane returning from his tour of Africa.
The pontiff answered questions from journalists regarding his upcoming trip to Spain, which will include a visit to the Canary Islands, a region heavily affected by migration flows and growing political polarization surrounding the issue.
“Obviously, migration is a very complex issue and affects many countries — not only Spain, not only Europe, but also the United States. It is a global phenomenon,” the pope said.
Pope Leo XIV also questioned the role of developed nations in addressing the crisis.
“My response begins with a question: What is the Global North doing to help the Global South and those countries where young people no longer see a future and dream of going north, even when the North sometimes has no answers to offer?” he asked.
While acknowledging that “a state has the right to establish rules for its borders,” the pope insisted that the debate must go beyond border control and address the structural causes that force people to leave their home countries.
International
Authorities Say Teotihuacán Gunman Was Obsessed With Mass Shootings and Extremist Symbolism
Julio César Jasso Ramírez, identified by authorities as the gunman behind the armed attack at the archaeological site of Teotihuacán, had allegedly spent years building a personal narrative shaped by an obsession with historical mass shootings, extremist symbolism, and an increasing detachment from reality.
According to preliminary findings from the Fiscalía General de Justicia del Estado de México, the 27-year-old suspect, originally from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, acted alone and appeared to have carefully planned the attack.
Investigators also pointed to signs of a severe psychological or psychiatric disorder. One official involved in the case stated that the suspect seemed to live in “his own reality,” disconnected from the world around him.
“I would not speak of a motive; I would speak of psychopathy, a condition, an illness,” the official said while discussing the ongoing investigation.
Authorities reported that Jasso Ramírez was allegedly fixated on mass violence incidents that occurred outside Mexico, particularly in the United States.
Among the items found in his possession were writings, images, and materials reportedly linked to the Columbine High School massacre, the school shooting that took place on April 20, 1999.
The investigation remains ongoing as authorities continue analyzing evidence connected to the suspect’s background and mental state.
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