The Diplomat
A group of Greenpeace activists simulated a forest fire yesterday in front of the Brazilian embassy in Madrid to demand greater protection for the Amazon, which in August registered 8,301 fires in the state of Amazonas alone, the highest number in its history, according to the environmental organization.
The activists scattered ashes and burned branches on the ground and unfurled a banner with the message “Stop burning the Amazon.
In a statement, issued on the eve of the celebration of Amazon Day, the spokesman for Greenpeace Spain’s Forest Campaign, Miguel Angel Soto, said: “While President Bolsonaro continues to deny that the Amazon is on fire and to make marketing maneuvers” – such as the deployment of the army to combat the destruction of the forest – “it continues to burn.