Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 15 april 2019

Brazil to auction oil camps despite environmental warnings

By PETER PRENGAMAN daily O Estado de S. Paulo.
MAURICIO SAVARESE The documents were ob-
Associated Press tained and verified by the
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The AP. IBAMA analysts said the
administration of President blocks are in regions that
Jair Bolsonaro plans to auc- have never been tapped,
tion seven offshore oil fields which require more “strate-
in the northeast despite gic studies that could eval-
contrary advice from ana- uate the aptitude of the
lysts of Brazil’s main environ- area.” The document said
mental body, according those studies are needed
to documents obtained by to give investors “more le-
the Associated Press. gal protection” in the case
Environmentalists say it’s the of an accident.
latest example of how Bol- The analysts also wrote
sonaro, who campaigned that a spill could get to the
on promises to revive Latin coast and the island chain
America’s largest econ- within two days, and au-
omy by cutting red tape, thorities would not be pre-
is pushing aside warnings pared to respond quickly
and scientific evidence or adequately to protect
in the name of progress. It marine life.
comes at a time when Bra- In this Oct. 19, 2018 file photo, an environmental activist holds a sign with a message that reads “Add to that the fact the im-
zil, one of the world’s larg- in Portuguese: “Not him, because he does not care about defending nature,” during a protest pact of a spill of large pro-
est oil producers and en- against then presidential frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia, Brazil. portions over mangroves
ergy consumers, is moving Associated Press and corals are in general
toward the privatization of tute, called IBAMA, en- auctioned in October are The study, dated March 18, irreversible, harming the lo-
several industries, including forces legislation and aims in the Jacuipe Basin and also said spills could lead cal economy and health,”
offshore exploration. to promote the sustainable four in the Camamu-Al- to the destruction of the the document said.
“There is no need to ex- the use of natural resourc- mada region, both in the Abrolhos islands, an area In response, Bim said in a
plore these areas,” said es. IBAMA analysts recom- waters off the coast of the of 353 square miles (913 letter to the environmental
Carlos Rittl, executive sec- mended against the ex- northeastern state of Bahia. square kilometers). Four of ministry, dated April 1, that
retary of environmental ploration of oil in seven out Appointed by Bolsonaro, Abrolhos’ five islands are he doesn’t “see the need
group Climate Observa- of 42 offshore fields origi- the new head of the insti- home to a marine national of exclusion of the (sev-
tory. “This decision is in line nally offered for auction in tute, Eduardo Bim, rejected park with rare coral forma- en) fields as suggested by
with a government that March by regulating body its analysis, which warned tions, tropical fish, whales, technical information.” He
sees the environment as an Brazilian Petroleum Agen- that exploration of “high- seabirds, turtles and dol- did not detail why he be-
obstacle.” cy. ly sensitivity areas” could phins. The dispute within IB- lieved it was fine to ignore
Brazil’s environment insti- Three of the fields to be lead to spills. AMA was first published by the warnings.q

Migrants break border gate, force their way into Mexico

Associated Press bridge between Mexico Mexico. Claudia Jaqueline
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexi- and Guatemala last year. Sandoval, 43, from El Pro-
can authorities said a group The institute said the mi- greso, Honduras, was walk-
of about 350 migrants grants were acting in a ing toward Tapachula with
broke the locks on a gate “hostile” and “aggressive” her 6-year-old daughter.
at the Guatemalan border way, and accused them of Another son and a daugh-
Friday and forced their way also attacking local police ter are already in the Unit-
into southern Mexico to join in Metapa, a Mexican vil- ed States.
a larger group of migrants lage that lies between the A group of several hun-
trying to make their way to- border and the nearby city dred Cuban, African and
ward the United States. of Tapachula. Central American migrants
The National Immigration The group of 350 pushed have been waiting at the
Institute did not identify past police guarding the immigration offices in Ta-
the nationalities of the mi- bridge and joined a larger pachula for documents
grants, but they are usually group of about 2,000 mi- that would allow them to
from Central America. Central American migrants, part of the caravan hoping to grants who are walking travel to the U.S. border,
reach the U.S. border, walk on the shoulder of a road in Frontera
A similar confrontation oc- Hidalgo, Mexico, Friday, April 12, 2019. toward Tapachula in the where most plan to request
curred on the same border Associated Press latest caravan to enter asylum. q