Rio de Janeiro, Aug 23 (UNI) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has criticised his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, as having a "colonialist mentality" for rallying G-7 countries to discuss the ongoing Amazon rain forest fires during the upcoming G7 summit.
"I regret that President Macron seeks to use internal affairs of Brazil and neighboring countries for his own political purposes … The French president’s proposal to discuss this issue at the summit which does not involve Brazil or other regional countries resembles colonialist mentality which is inappropriate in the 21st century," Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter late on Thursday.
The Brazilian president also noted that Macron had referred to some fake photos when describing the situation in the Amazon rain forest.
Wildfires have been raging in the Amazon for three weeks. The extent of the area damaged by fires has yet to be determined, but smoke has choked Sao Paulo and several other Brazilian cities in the past week.
Earlier, Macron called the situation an international crisis, saying it should be addressed during the three-day G7 summit, which will begin in France’s Biarritz on Saturday.
'Our house is burning. Literally. The Amazon rain forest - the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen - is on fire. It is an international crisis. Members of the G7 Summit, let's discuss this emergency first order in two days! ', Macron had twitted on Thursday.
The wildfires in the Amazon rain forest have drawn international attention. According to the satellite data provided by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), this year, the wildfire area increased by 82 percent compared to 2018.
Experts from across the world are warning about grave consequences of the fires.
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