Ricardo Salles resigns

Minister Ricardo Salles has resigned. At the head of the Ministry of Environment since the beginning of Bolsonaro’s administration, Salles is the target of investigations in the Supreme Court (STF) within operations Akuanduba, launched to investigate crimes against public administration committed by public agents and loggers, and Handroanthus, which investigates an illegal timber export scheme. The São Paulo Justice Department is also investigating the former minister for embezzlement during the period in which he was secretary of the Geraldo Alckmin (PSDB) state administration, in a lawsuit involving his law firm.

Ricardo Salles stepped down after gaining knowledge that Justice Alexandre de Morais would order his arrest, according to an article in O Estado de S. Paulo. The newspaper also said that Bolsonaro asked the former minister to remain in office and face the STF, but Salles replied that he feared for the safety of his mother, also investigated as a partner in his office in São Paulo.

The investigations now will leave STF’s reach and return to the Federal Courts of Brasilia and Amazonas. The Federal Police has already brought suspicions to the STF that the Amazon justice system was benefiting the former minister and the others investigated in the scope of Operation Handroanthus.

Critics and environmentalists consider Salles the worst Environment Minister Brazil has ever had. His tenure had as characteristics: the dismantling of Brazilian environmental policy, successive records of deforestation and fires in the Amazon, attacks on traditional communities and sectors of organized civil society, and the spread of fake news.

In a farewell to the former minister, President Jair Bolsonaro praised his time in the ministry. “Dear Ricardo Salles, you are part of history. The marriage of Agriculture with the Environment was an almost perfect marriage. Congratulations, Ricardo Salles. It is not easy to be in your ministry. Sometimes the legacy is just a bunch of lawsuits,” he declared.