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A30 world news
Dialuna 20 Juni 2022
After writer’s murder in the Amazon, can his vision survive?
He was curious and thor- That didn’t stop him from completed with outside help.
ough, whether parsing stud- attending rallies to seek the Phillips’ optimistic message
ies of projected rainfall views of die-hard Bolson- — that the Amazon can be
decline in the agricultural aro backers. He was alarmed preserved, with the right ac-
heartland caused by Ama- by Bolsonaro’s laissez-faire tions — could still reach the
zon deforestation or track- environmental policy, but world.
ing down the driving test ad- mindful that prior leftist
ministrator who discovered governments also had spotty “We would very much like to
a man disguised as his own records, often catering to find a way to honor the im-
mother to take her exam. He agribusiness and building a portant and essential work
recalled an editor telling him: massive hydroelectric dam Dom was doing,” Margaret
“You spend too much time that wrought calamitous local Stead, his publisher at Ma-
researching news stories.” damage while vastly under- nilla Press, wrote in an email.
delivering. His allegiance was
Among local correspondents, to the environment and those The book’s title was “How
he earned respect for his hu- depending on it for survival. to Save the Amazon.” Bolso-
mility as well, often sharing naro has bristled at the idea
(AP) — British journal- with appeals for help to sup- others’ reportage rather than Phillips also had been preoc- it needs rescue, saying some
ist Dom Phillips’ quest port his wife. Phillips would tooting his own horn. cupied with risks to his pro- 80% of Brazil’s portion re-
to unlock the secrets of be gobsmacked to learn that fessional future, betting on mains intact and offering to
how to preserve Brazil’s his fate has troubled current Phillips claimed the spot- a book with wallet-wilting fly foreign dignitaries over
Amazon was cut short this and former U.K. prime min- light, inadvertently, during a travel costs and praying it its vast abundance. But Phil-
month when he was killed isters. televised press conference in would resonate. He had set lips knew the view is differ-
along with a colleague in July 2019. Noting rising de- aside newspaper work to fo- ent from the forest floor; big
the heart of the forest he He wrote about Brazil for 15 forestation and that the en- cus on it. hardwood trees have been
so cherished. Some of his years, in early days covering vironment minister had met logged to scarcity in many
discoveries may yet see the the oil industry for Platts, lat- with loggers, Phillips asked “I’m a freelancer with noth- seemingly pristine areas.
light of day. er freelancing for the Wash- President Jair Bolsonaro how ing but a book in my life and His companions traveling
ington Post and New York he intended to demonstrate not even enough to live on through the Javari Valley cel-
Phillips in 2021 secured a Times then regularly con- Brazil’s commitment to pro- next year while I write it,” he ebrated when coming upon
yearlong fellowship with the tributing to The Guardian. tect the Amazon region. told the AP in a private ex- one.
Alicia Patterson Foundation He was versatile, but gravi- change in September. “Not
to write a book, building on tated toward features about “First, you have to understand so much all the eggs in the “The Amazon is much less
prior research. By June, he the environment as it became that the Amazon is Brazil’s, same basket as the entire hen pristine and protected than
had written several chapters. his passion. not yours, OK? That’s the house.” most people think it is and
first answer there,” Bolson- much more threatened than
“Dom’s book project was on Phillips often hiked in Rio aro retorted. “We preserved He and Sampaio had moved people realize,” he wrote to
the cutting edge of environ- de Janeiro’s Tijuca Forest more than the entire world. to the northeastern city of the AP in September.
mental reporting in Brazil. It National Park and, atop his No country in the world has Salvador. He was charged up
was extremely ambitious, but paddle board at Copacabana the moral standing to talk to by the change of scene and He noted, with a hint of in-
he had the experience to pull beach, was in his element: Brazil about the Amazon.” teaching English to children trigue, that he recently vis-
it off,” said Andrew Fishman, floating above the natural from poor communities. ited a preserved area of virgin
a close friend and journalist world and observing. He Within weeks, man-made They had begun the process forest full of massive trees.
at The Intercept. “We cannot might message friends out fires ravaged the Amazon, to adopt a child. Places like that, he said, were
let his assassins also kill his of the blue, sharing news of drawing global criticism, and usually inaccessible.
vision.” spotting a ray with a 3-foot the clip of Bolsonaro’s testy Sampaio told the AP that she
wingspan, reflecting a won- response spread among his doesn’t know what will be- And where is that hallowed
Phillips’ disappearance and der more common among supporters as evidence the come of her husband’s book, ground?
then confirmed death has children than 57-year-old far-right leader wouldn’t be but she and his siblings want
brought calls for justice from men, and he brought that admonished by foreign inter- it published — whether only “You can read it in the book,”
Brazil and abroad from actors, spirit to his reporting. lopers. Phillips then received the four chapters already he wrote, “when it comes
musicians and athletes, along abuse, but no threats. written or including others out.”
8 more dead as India’s Assam state reels under floods
(AP) — Massive flooding China’s Tibet through In- Minister Himanta Biswa the government said the situ- north.
and mudslides in north- dia and into Bangladesh on Sarma toured flood-hit areas ation was likely to deteriorate
eastern India’s Assam state a nearly 800 kilometer (497 and described the situation as in the worst-hit Sunamganj Lightning strikes in parts of
have claimed eight more mile) journey through As- grim. and Sylhet districts in the Bangladesh have left at least
lives, officials said Sunday, sam. northeast as well as in the nine dead since Friday.
taking the death toll to 62 “We are now focusing on re-
from weeks of heavy rains On Sunday, four people went lief and rescue operations,”
that caused one of Asia’s missing when a boat carrying Sarma said, adding that more
largest rivers to overflow. nine capsized in eastern As- than 20,000 people have been
sam’s Dibrugarh district, 500 evacuated by the army and
Assam’s disaster management kilometers (310 miles) east other rescue agencies.
agency said 32 of the state’s of Gauhati, the state capital.
35 districts were underwater Police said that search opera- Annual monsoon rains hit
as the swollen Brahmaputra tions were ongoing but they the region in June-Septem-
River broke its banks, dis- were hampered by strong ber. The rains are crucial for
placing more than 3 million currents. crops planted during the sea-
people. The Indian army was son but often cause extensive
called in for rescue efforts Forecasters are expecting a damage.
and the air force remained on respite from rains after inces-
standby. sant downpours. Flooding from swollen rivers
has also spilled over to neigh-
The Brahmaputra flows from On Saturday, Assam’s Chief boring Bangladesh, where