International
August Amazon fires remain near highs under Bolsonaro
AFP
The number of fires in the Brazilian Amazon as the burning season opened in August fell slightly from 2020, but remained close to the near-decade highs seen under President Jair Bolsonaro, new data showed Wednesday.
Brazil’s space agency, INPE, recorded 28,060 fires in the Brazilian Amazon last month — down 4.3 percent from August 2020, but well above the average of 18,000 for the decade before Bolsonaro took office in 2019.
The far-right president, who has pushed to open protected lands to agribusiness and mining, has presided over a surge of deforestation in the Amazon.
Under his administration, Brazil’s share of the Amazon has lost around 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles) of forest cover a year — an area nearly the size of Lebanon.
That is up from around 6,500 square kilometers per year during the previous decade.
The number of fires has surged, too.
“The amount of fires registered each August has reached absurd levels since 2019,” said Cristiane Mazzetti, of environmental group Greenpeace, condemning a new “Bolsonaro standard” of destruction.
Fires often increase in the Amazon when dryer weather arrives from around August to November, as farmers, ranchers and land speculators fell trees, then burn them to clear the land.
Scientists say natural wildfires are virtually non-existent in the famously wet Amazon.
In 2019, Bolsonaro’s first year in office, a sharp rise in Amazon fires caused worldwide outcry and fueled fears for the future of the world’s biggest rainforest, a key resource in the race to curb climate change.
INPE recorded 30,900 fires in August 2019, up from 10,421 the year before.
The agency’s figures go back to 1998. The worst August on record was 2005, with 63,764 fires.
Ane Alencar, director of science at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), said this year’s fire season would depend on climate factors such as rainfall.
But “we are still at about the same level as in 2019,” she told AFP.
“It’s like we’re getting used to these very high numbers.”
Environmentalists are also concerned over a sharp increase in fires in the huge Pantanal wetlands south of the Amazon, around a quarter of which was devastated by fires last year.
The region is again facing a record drought this year.
International
Erin weakens to Category 3 after rapid intensification to Category 5
Hurricane Erin, the first of the Atlantic season, was downgraded to a Category 3 cyclone on Sunday as it passed through the Caribbean islands, posing risks of flash floods and landslides, according to meteorologists.
The hurricane briefly intensified on Saturday, reaching Category 5 by the end of the day—a level described as “catastrophic” by U.S. authorities—before wind speeds began to decrease.
By Sunday at 06:00 GMT, Erin was located approximately 225 kilometers north of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with sustained winds of up to 205 km/h, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
“The center of Erin is expected to move just north of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Sunday, and pass east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas Sunday night into Monday,” the NHC reported.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands, while residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the southeast and central Bahamas were advised to closely monitor the hurricane’s progress.
Erin reached Category 5, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, just over 24 hours after becoming a Category 1 hurricane, a rapid intensification that scientists say has become more common due to global warming.
The NHC described it as a “catastrophic hurricane.”
International
Ex-Pemex director linked to Odebrecht scandal detained in Texas, faces trial in Mexico
Carlos Treviño Medina, former director of Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) between 2017 and 2018—during the final year of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration—has been detained in the United States and will be deported to Mexico to face corruption charges, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday.
“He was detained in the U.S., an ex-director of Pemex who was already on alert lists. He will be deported and will face trial here in Mexico for corruption-related matters,” Sheinbaum told reporters during her morning press conference.
Shortly after, Sheinbaum confirmed that the detainee is Treviño Medina, who is accused of receiving bribes in connection with the Odebrecht scandal, “among other things.” She added: “We should ask the Attorney General’s Office exactly what the charges are. What I can say is that it is related to a complaint filed by Emilio Lozoya,” a former Pemex official also implicated in the Odebrecht corruption case.
Later in the day, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (FGR) stated in a press release that Treviño Medina was arrested on August 12 in Dallas, Texas, by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which currently holds him in custody while deportation proceedings move forward.
The FGR noted that Treviño Medina is subject to an active arrest warrant in Mexico on charges of criminal association and money laundering.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government said that ICE detained Treviño Medina for overstaying his visa by nearly three years.
International
Residente to perform free concert at Mexico City’s Zócalo on september 6
Mexico City’s head of government, Clara Brugada, announced on Saturday that Puerto Rican musician Residente will perform a free concert at the capital’s Zócalo on September 6.
“I have great news for you! On Saturday, September 6, at 8:00 p.m., Residente will perform. It’s a song to freedom and Latin American resistance,” Brugada said in a video posted on X.
According to the Mexico City Ministry of Culture, Residente will take the stage “with lyrics loaded with social messages and rhythms that have marked generations.” The singer, who has already held free concerts at the Zócalo, also shared the announcement on his social media, emphasizing the historic significance of the venue.
“I don’t take this for granted, I know where I’m performing—it’s a special place (…) It’s where the flag of a free Mexico was first woven, and that’s what I want for my own country as well. (…) I don’t know how much longer I’ll keep performing, but what I do know is that I want to enjoy this day to the fullest with all of you,” he wrote on Instagram.
With over 20 years of career, René Pérez Joglar—better known as Residente—is recognized as a rapper, songwriter, and music producer, as well as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the group Calle 13. His lyrics have long stood out for their political and social content.
The Zócalo show will open with a performance by the female collective Mujer en Cypher, featuring Arianna Puello, Ximbo, Niña Dios, Prania Esponda, Azuki, and Mena, according to the Ministry of Culture.
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