The Trump Ally Who Is Allowing the Amazon to Burn

In January, 2012, Jair Bolsonaro, who was then a retired military officer and colorful but not politically relevant far-right congressman, was caught fishing illegally in a federally protected marine-wildlife reserve. Bolsonaro—wearing a white, Speedo-like bathing suit—was discovered in a small, inflatable boat inside the Tamoios Ecological Station, an area with a half-mile radius that serves as a refuge for penguins, seals, whales, and dolphins in the state of Rio de Janeiro. An agent with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (ibama) issued Bolsonaro a ticket for ten...