Amazon fires: Brazil's president will only accept help if Macron withdraws 'insults'

Amazon fires: Brazil's president will only accept help if Macron withdraws 'insults'

Jair Bolsonaro and the French president are embroiled in a public war of words as G7 countries offer $20m (£16m) in aid.

An aerial view of a tract of the Amazon jungle burning as it is being cleared by loggers and farmers in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, is pictured in this August 23, 2019 picture taken with a drone. Picture taken August 23, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
Image: Wildfires have been raging in the Brazilian Amazon
Brazil's president says he will only accept an offer of international aid to fight the devastating Amazon fires if French leader Emmanuel Macron withdraws his "insults".
Jair Bolsonaro said Mr Macron had called him a liar and he accused the French president of questioning Brazil's sovereignty.
It comes after Brazil's government said it would reject $20m (£16m) in aid from G7 countries to battle wildfires in the Amazon.
France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro attend a meeting on the digital economy at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by Jacques Witt / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read JACQUES WITT/AFP/Getty Images)
Image: Emmanuel Macron (L) and Jair Bolsonaro (R) have been embroiled in a public war of words
Mr Bolsonaro told reporters: "First of all, Macron has to withdraw his insults. He called me a liar.
"Before we talk or accept anything from France... he must withdraw these words then we can talk.
"First he withdraws, then offers (aid), then I will answer."
Mr Bolsonaro and Mr Macron have been embroiled in a deeply personal and public war of words in recent days, with Brazil's president appearing to mock the French leader's wife on Facebook.
Mr Macron responded by saying it was "extremely disrespectful" and "sad".
The French president made the offer of financial aid for the Amazon at the recent G7 summit in Biarritz, France after leaders had discussed fires ravaging the world's largest tropical rainforest - often dubbed "the lungs of the world".
View of fire in the Amazon rainforest, near Abuna, Rondonia state, Brazil, on August 24, 2019
Image: G7 countries have offered $20m (£16m) in aid to tackle the Amazon fires
The G7 nations have pledged $20m (£16m) to help fight the flames in the Amazon and protect the rainforest, in addition to a separate $12m (£9.8m) from Britain and $11m (£9m) from Canada.
Mr Bolsonaro, a right-wing leader who wants to open the Amazon to more farming and mining, had previously said the offer would leave his country like "a colony or no man's land".
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But Mr Macron says the Brazilian president's interpretation is a "mistake", with the money aimed at nine countries in the Amazon region, including Colombia and Bolivia, and not just Brazil.
At least 3,800 square miles are also burning in Bolivia, near its border with Paraguay and Brazil.
Why you should care about the Amazon - in numbers

Why you should care about the Amazon - in numbers
An aerial view shows smoke rising over a deforested plot of the Amazon jungle in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, in this August 24, 2019 picture taken with a drone. Picture taken August 24, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Image: An aerial view shows smoke rising over a deforested plot of the Amazon jungle in Rondonia State, Brazil
A record number of blazes have gripped the Amazon rainforest, drawing international concern because of its importance to the global environment.
The number of fires has risen by 85% to more than 77,000 in the last year, a record since Brazil's National Space Research Institute began keeping track in 2013.
In the heart of the Amazon, the Mura indigenous people have vowed to protect their traditional land amidst threats from farmers, logging and raging fires.
'White man's goal to finish off Amazon' - tribe leader
About half of the fires have been in the Amazon region, with most of those just in the past month.

Amid international outcry over the fires, a foundation backed by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio pledged $5m (£4m) in aid to the Amazon.