The President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, yesterday called on his government to speed up its actions in Brazil Amazonia to fight against organized crime, which contributes to the destruction of the world's largest rainforest, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Lula complained that it took a year to draw up a security plan for the Amazon, saying there was still a lot of work to do to establish an international police center in the city of Manaus.
"We have to speed up the process because my mandate is only four years. If we fail to implement this plan, another one will come and do nothing,'' he said at an event to secure 318 million Brazilian reals ($58.6 million) to fund the security plan.
The funds come from the "Amazonia" Fund. of $1.3 billion, originally created by Norway to support sustainable development and stop illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.