Brazilian president makes unfounded claim NGOs are setting fires in the Amazon

As controversy swirls around him for failing to protect the world’s largest rainforest from fires, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro blamed environmental groups and nongovernmental organizations for setting the blazes.

“On the question of burning in the Amazon, which in my opinion may have been initiated by NGOs because they lost money, what is the intention? To bring problems to Brazil,” Bolsonaro said, according to The Guardian .

He made similarly baseless allegations earlier when he suggested the environmental groups were going out with cameras and starting fires in the Amazon. When asked for any evidence to back up those claims, he said it was just his feeling.

In addition to a marked increase in deforestation, Brazil has seen an 84% increase in fire outbreaks this year compared to the same period last year, more than half of which were in the Amazon.