Brazil’s nationalist president Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday his government lacked the resources to fight and investigate wildfires in the Amazon after satellite images showed swaths of rainforest burning at an unprecedented pace, prompting anger at his stewardship of the environment.
Speaking in front of reporters in Brasília, Mr Bolsonaro said the government was investigating the fires and suggested that non-governmental organisations may have been behind them.
“It could be ranchers. Everyone is suspicious, but the biggest suspicion comes from NGOs,” Mr Bolsonaro said. He added that he had “no proof” to back up his claims but pointed out that his government had slashed funding to charities.