{"id":141704,"date":"2019-09-02T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=141704"},"modified":"2019-09-09T09:43:04","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T08:43:04","slug":"gop-lobbyists-help-brazil-recruit-u-s-companies-to-exploit-the-amazon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/09\/gop-lobbyists-help-brazil-recruit-u-s-companies-to-exploit-the-amazon\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Lobbyists Help Brazil Recruit U.S. Companies to Exploit the Amazon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Aerial view of the Transamazonica Road near Medicilandia, Para State, Brazil on March 13, 2019.
Photo: Mauro Pimentel\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

23 Aug 2019 – <\/em>This summer, fires are being used to clear\u00a0wide swaths of the Amazon at an unprecedented rate.\u00a0One-fifth of the Amazon has already been destroyed in the past 50 years; further industrialization of the rainforest risks\u00a0destroying another fifth, a loss that\u00a0would be catastrophic<\/a> for the global ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The disaster is widely blamed on\u00a0interests seeking to clear the world\u2019s largest rainforest for cattle ranching, mining, and export-focused agribusiness. \u00a0Documents\u00a0reveal that those interests are being\u00a0pushed in the U.S. by Republican lobbyists, friendly with President Donald Trump\u2019s administration, who entered into talks with the Brazilian government to promote\u00a0corporate investment in the Amazon.<\/p>\n

Related: On the Front Lines of Bolsonaro\u2019s War on the Amazon, Brazil\u2019s Forest Communities Fight Against Climate Catastrophe<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The crisis in the Amazon comes as Brazil is now governed by an administration openly hostile to environmental concerns and Indigenous communities. President Jair Bolsonaro, a former Army captain once viewed as a fringe figure in Brazilian politics, has referred to\u00a0himself<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cCaptain Chainsaw\u201d for his drive to promote logging and agribusiness in the Amazon.<\/p>\n

Shortly after taking office in January, Bolsonaro\u00a0slashed<\/a> funding for Brazil\u2019s main environmental agency by 24 percent. And this week, after a report by Brazil\u2019s space research center revealed that fires in the Amazon are up 83%<\/a> this year,\u00a0<\/strong>Bolsonaro blamed the fires on international NGOs<\/a> rather than his own anti-environmental policies.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0a member<\/u>\u00a0of the Brazilian government\u00a0has contracted with Washington lobbyists to continue selling land and destroying the forest.<\/p>\n

In June, Wilson Lima, the governor of the state of Amazonas, a northwestern province in Brazil that governs approximately a third of the Amazon, including the epicenter of the current forest fire crisis,\u00a0began work<\/a> with the Interamerica Group, a\u00a0Washington, D.C.\u2013based\u00a0lobbying firm founded by Jerry Pierce Jr. Kellen Felix, a Brazilian national and vice president at Interamerica Group, is also listed in a disclosure filing<\/a> for work with the state of Amazonas. Lima, elected last year, is a member of PSC, a conservative party affiliated with the Assembly of God, a rapidly growing\u00a0Pentecostal church in Brazil.<\/p>\n

The initial filings, disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act\u00a0through the Department of Justice, which regulates foreign lobbying, show that Pierce was tapped<\/a> to represent Lima\u2019s government in meetings with federal agencies and Congress.<\/p>\n

The Interamerica Group has also already\u00a0filed an\u00a0informational packet<\/a>\u00a0assembled for U.S.\u00a0companies on behalf of\u00a0the Brazilian governor,\u00a0promoting the Amazon region for its development potential. The\u00a0packet\u00a0lists mining, agribusiness, and the \u201cGas Chemical Industry\u201d as \u201cOpportunities\u201d for American businesses \u2014 among the \u201cChallenges\u201d for these potential businesses\u00a0is to \u201cEnsure Forest Conservation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A packet,\u00a0disclosed by the Interamerica Group, advertising the Amazon to business interests. Document: FARA disclosure.<\/p><\/div>\n

6687 Informational Materials 20190605 133 pages <\/a><\/p>\n

In response to an inquiry from The Intercept, Pierce said that a final contract has not been signed. \u201cUnfortunately the state of Amazon\u00a0<\/strong>decided to hold off on contracting our firm for an indefinite period. Perhaps it will revisited in 2020,\u201d Pierce wrote. He did not respond to a question about why his firm was already producing\u00a0communications on behalf of the Lima government.<\/p>\n

Pierce has written extensively on how both Trump and Bolsonaro\u00a0are\u00a0a boon\u00a0for increased American business in Brazil.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cUnder a President Trump,\u201d Pierce wrote in 2017\u00a0blog post<\/a>\u00a0on his company\u2019s website, Brazil stands to become\u00a0\u201ca world leader in industries such as agribusiness, mining, banking, and aviation.\u201d In more recent posts<\/a>, Pierce celebrates the rise of right-wing Bolsonaro, declaring, \u201cDonald Trump paved the way for a Bolsonaro victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierce also previously served as an official at the\u00a0Department of Housing and Urban Development during the administration of George H.W. Bush, and was a prominent fundraiser for President George W. Bush. Under George W. Bush, he achieved\u00a0\u201cPioneer\u201d status, an accolade given to supporters who raised at least $100,000<\/a> for Bush\u2019s campaigns.\u00a0In 2009, Pierce pleaded guilty to making illegal\u00a0\u201cconduit contributions,\u201d a term that refers to campaign contributions made under another person\u2019s name. He served three years<\/a> probation.<\/p>\n

Images<\/a> on\u00a0social media<\/a>\u00a0show Pierce, Felix, and other Interamerica Group officials appearing, <\/strong>in Pierce\u2019s description,\u00a0with\u00a0members of President Donald Trump\u2019s administration and at\u00a0<\/strong>conservative movement events, including\u00a0the CPAC <\/a>convention and with Turning Point USA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lima is not the only regional official to forge ties with Trump-friendly politicians.<\/p>\n

The Intercept previously reported that Lima\u2019s predecessor, Gov. Amazonino Mendes, signed a controversial $1.6 million<\/a> contract with Giuliani Safety & Security, a consulting firm affiliated with Rudy Giuliani, now a lawyer for Trump. The state of Amazonas has struggled with persistent poverty, drug smuggling, and crime \u2014 problems Mendes promised to solve through the contract with Giuliani\u2019s firm.<\/p>\n

The discussions with the Interamerica Group are among many American ties to business expansion into the Amazon. In April, the Brazil-American Chamber of Commerce, a trade group representing major banking and commodity interests, held an event<\/a> on how U.S. investors can take advantage of Brazilian agribusiness in the current political climate.<\/p>\n

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Related:<\/em><\/p>\n