Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has accused Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio of giving money to set the Amazon rainforest on fire. The president made the claim during brief remarks at the presidential residence on Friday, stating: 'This Leonardo DiCaprio is a cool guy, right? Giving money to torch the Amazon.' He provided no evidence to support the allegation.
The accusation appears to stem from the arrest of four volunteer firefighters in the northern state of Pará on allegations they started fires to generate NGO donations. Rights groups and critics have claimed the police operation was politically motivated and aimed at harassing environmental organisations. The firefighters have since been released.
In a live webcast on Thursday, Bolsonaro alleged that the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) had paid for images taken by the arrested firefighters, a claim the WWF has denied. He said: 'So what did the NGO do? What is the easiest thing? Set fire to the forest. Take pictures, make a video. [WWF] makes a campaign against Brazil, it contacts Leonardo DiCaprio, he donates $500,000. A part of that went to the people that were setting fires.'
DiCaprio, who has pledged $5 million for the Amazon, denied the allegations in a statement: 'Although they are certainly worth supporting, we have not funded the organisations that are currently under attack. The future of these irreplaceable ecosystems is at stake and I am proud to be part of the groups that protect them.' The WWF also confirmed it had received no donations from the actor.
Senator Randolfe Rodrigues criticised Bolsonaro, tweeting: 'How desperate. Our negligent and incompetent president, who is responsible for unprecedented environmental dismantling, blames DiCaprio but not his own administration which is incapable of taking a single step without destroying something.' The Amazon fires in August sparked global concern, with thousands of individual fires recorded—almost three times as many as in the same month last year.
