Ibama public servants protest against federal government

On June 5th, World Environment Day, public servants and workers from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) gathered outside the Ministry of the Environment, in Brasília, the country’s capital, to protest against minister Ricardo Salles and president Jair Bolsonaro and in defense of the environment. The protesters held signs and banners asking for the resignation of Minister Salles and referred to the ministry’s leaked discourse in a cabinet meeting in April calling for the deregulation of environmental legislation using the pandemic as a distraction. The workers also protested against president Bolsonaro and defended the role of public service. In an article by the website Congresso em Foco, Alexandre Gontijo, president of the Association of Servants and Environment Specialists (ASIBAMA-DF) said that the government doesn’t understand the importance of environmental conservation for the development of the country and denies science.