Brazil environment minister quits amid illegal logging inquiry

Ricardo Salle is facing an investigation into whether he obstructed police probe of illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest.

Brazil’s controversial Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, who quit on Wednesday, is facing a criminal investigation into whether or not he obstructed a police probe of illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest. A Supreme Court justice authorised the investigation of Salles this month after federal police raids targeted the minister and other officials who are alleged to have allowed illegal wood exports. “I understand that Brazil throughout this year and next on the international stage and also in the national agenda needs to have a strong union of interests,” Salles told reporters in Brasilia. “So that this can be done in the most serene manner possible, I submitted my resignation.”