![Brazil economy minister renews spat with France over Amazon](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/ff/c7/1c/Brazil-economy-minister-renews-spat-660016.jpg)
-
Concern grows as Venezuela blocks election observers
-
'Massive attack' on French rail threatens more chaos
-
'We did it!': France breathes sigh of relief after Olympics ceremony
-
Blinken, in Laos, set for talks with Chinese foreign minister
-
Regional concern grows as Venezuela blocks vote observers
-
Historic river parade, Dion show-stopper ignite Paris Olympics
-
Rainy Paris Olympic parade dampens many spectators' spirits
-
G20 pledges to work together to tax ultra-rich
-
The one of a kind Paris opening ceremony: five memorable moments
-
Justin Timberlake seeks to dismiss DUI case
-
Warner Brothers Discovery sues NBA over Amazon rights deal
-
Kobe Bryant locker, Maradona jersey up for auction in New York
-
Historic river parade launches Paris Olympics
-
Stocks rise as US inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
New York family of Holocaust victim reclaims Nazi-looted art
-
NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
-
Thousands evacuate season's biggest wildfire in northern California
-
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
-
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
-
Lady Gaga adds sparkle to star-studded Olympic show
-
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
-
Teams sail down Seine in rain-soaked Olympics opening ceremony
-
Norris hoping for more after topping Belgian practice times
-
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
-
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
-
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
-
Mott's England future uncertain as ECB chief fails to offer support
-
Trump meets Israeli PM Netanyahu in Florida
-
S.African police say 95 Libyans detained at suspected military camp
-
Blinken set for talks with Chinese counterpart in Laos
-
Norris heads Piastri in McLaren one-two at Belgian GP practice
-
G20 seeks common ground on taxing super-rich
-
European medicines watchdog rejects new Alzheimer's drug
-
Harris gets vital Obama backing in battle against Trump
-
Habib, Ebden eye Alcaraz and Djokovic shocks at Olympics tennis
-
Stocks rise as inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
-
Two Sinaloa Cartel leaders face US charges after stunning capture
-
Spain train driver jailed for 2.5 years over deadly 2013 crash
-
Paris poised for Olympic opening ceremony spectacular
-
Judoka fails doping test in first case at Paris Olympics
-
Holder and Da Silva keep England at bay after West Indies collapse
-
Alpine F1 boss Bruno Famin to leave in August
-
Ethiopia declares three days of mourning after landslide tragedy
-
Brazilian dunes dotted with dazzling pools make UNESCO heritage list
-
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
-
French Rugby's Jaminet suspended 34 weeks after racist video: Federation
-
Osaka looking to turbo-charge comeback at Paris Olympics
-
Stock markets climb as US inflation rate drops
-
Russian central bank hikes key rate to fight inflation
![Brazil economy minister renews spat with France over Amazon](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/ff/c7/1c/Brazil-economy-minister-renews-spat-660016.jpg)
Brazil economy minister renews spat with France over Amazon
In decidedly undiplomatic language, Brazil's economy minister has renewed a spat with France over deforestation in the Amazon, telling the European nation it is becoming "irrelevant" and risks being told where to stick its criticism.
Following in the footsteps of his boss, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro -- who mocked French First Lady Brigitte Macron's appearance amid a row with her husband, Emmanuel, over Amazon forest fires in 2019 -- Economy Minister Paulo Guedes took the gloves off in comments to a business conference Tuesday.
"We had a minister visiting from France one time. 'You're burning the forest,' he said. I told him, 'You're burning Notre Dame,'" the iconic cathedral that caught fire in April 2019, Guedes said in a speech to the Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants in Brasilia.
"I mean, what an idiotic accusation. Notre Dame sits on one city block, and you couldn't stop it from catching fire. We have an area bigger than Europe and you're criticizing us," he said, in video recordings of the event that went viral online.
"You better start treating us right or we're going to tell you to go fuck yourselves."
Guedes, an ultra-liberal economist who trained at the University of Chicago, said Brazilian trade with France had been dwarfed by that with China -- $7 billion versus $120 billion.
"You're becoming irrelevant to us," he said, insisting it was time for France to sign off on a proposed free-trade deal between the European Union and South American bloc Mercosur.
The deal has stalled over European concerns that agricultural production in Brazil, the world's top exporter of beef and soy, is destroying the world's biggest rainforest.
Since agribusiness ally Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75 percent from the previous decade.
Bolsonaro, who is up for reelection in October, exchanged heated words over the issue with Macron on social media amid a surge of Amazon forest fires in 2019.
It escalated into Bolsonaro sharing a supporter's Facebook post of side-by-side pictures of the two presidents' wives, with the caption: "Now you understand why Macron is persecuting Bolsonaro?"
Guedes jumped into that fray, too, calling Brigitte Macron "truly ugly."
E.Schubert--BTB