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A federal court in Brazil has filed a lawsuit to have the environment minister, Ricardo Salles, dismissed from his post due to his 'countless initiatives that violate the duty to protect the environment'. For instance, Salles has refused to place experts, who understand environmental issues, in key roles in supervisory agencies. Instead, he has filled these with police officials. The environment minister has also attacked Brazil's main federal environmental agencies, IBAMA and ICMBio, by cutting the number of regional positions and offices and weakening control of protected areas.
Alike Brazil's President, Salles has expressed a desire to develop the Amazon on multiple occasions. He has also made claims that indicate Brazil has to choose between its economy and its environment, and the economy should always come first. This makes him utterly unfit for his position, as does his ties to the mining industry. You can read all about Salles' comments regarding the environment, as well as those of several other Brazilian ministers in the research paper available in our online store.
Apart from Salles' attacks on the environment, his staff has reported that he runs an office filled with threats and persecutions, some of which occur publicly.