Akuanduba Operation: Ibama workers denounce militarization of the Ministry of the Environment

Testimonies made by Ibama employees to the Federal Police as part of Operation Akuanduba, which investigates smuggling of illegal timber from the Amazon, have substantiated the accusations against Minister Ricardo Salles.

In an article about the operation, Veja magazine highlighted the militarization of key positions in a testimony by the environmental analyst nicknamed C.E.R.J., who reported the presence of military personnel specially in charge of Ibama’s inspections - “they are in almost all the superintendencies in the states and in positions of trust in the Inspection Directorate and the Planning Directorate,” said the employee, according to the magazine.

When heard by O Globo, environmental analyst Hugo Leonardo Mota Ferreira said that the minister Ricardo Salles is a “supporter of devastation and destruction” and that his tenure will be remembered for the persecution of members of the ministry’s agencies who act contrary to his interests.

The environmentalist portal ClimaInfo collected the repercussions of the statements in the press in its daily bulletin and also highlighted the information revealed by Folha de S. Paulo about the interference of Salles’ special advisor at Ibama to favor an agricultural enterprise in the state of Mato Grosso.