Vice president: Brazil ending Amazon deployment of soldiers

Brazil’s Vice-President Hamilton Mourão has said that a deployment of soldiers to the Amazon rainforest will end, just weeks before the global climate conference where the administration aims to show commitment to curbing illegal deforestation

BRASILIA, Brazil -- Brazil's Vice President Hamilton Mourão said on Friday that a deployment of soldiers to the Amazon rainforest will end, just weeks before the global climate conference where the administration aims to show commitment to curbing illegal deforestation.

Nearly 3,000 soldiers have been in the Amazon for just over three months, working to prevent deforestation and man-made fires. The deployment is the third in President Jair Bolsonaro's administration, stemming from a decree signed in late June, and was extended once already. That extension went through Friday.

Mourão, who coordinates the government's Amazon Council, said the government decided to end the program because environmental authorities once again have the ability to carry out oversight.

“The environmental agencies have more people now able to work,” he said, claiming the pandemic hampered their ability to patrol and citing recently proposed expansion of the environment ministry’s budget. “It was agreed that the armed forces will continue providing logistical support and intelligence.”