Military personnel in charge of environmental governance

After the broad administrative reform in February when 21 out of 26 IBAMA’s regional supervisors were exonerated and the March’s normative to not speak to the press, the Minister of the Environment started to replace career experts with military personnel. From the highest levels of the Ministry to the directorship of IBAMA and the Biodiversity Institute (ICMBio), key positions were put under command of military and former police officials. Minister Ricardo Salles enforced the president’s Bolsonaro guideline to “clean the ideological framework” from the environmental governance federal structure. By mid- April, at least 12 military officials were occupying strategic functions in the sector.