The Brazilian Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Senate Commission seems more dedicated than ever to protect the Amazon. Millionaire Johan Eliasch, president of Cool Earth (a nonprofit environmentalist organization), who is also an adviser to British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has been invited to attend a hearing of the Brazilian Senate on June 25.

The Senate has approved an investigation commission proposed by Senator João Pedro from the Amazon region. According to official reports, Gethal, a company owned by the Swedish-English entrepreneur Eliasch is being accused of illegally purchasing approximately 121,000 acres of land in the Amazon region.

Johan Eliasch became famous worldwide, when back in 2006 he announced to be the owner of the Amazon. On June 6, Brazilian government officials announced a fine of US$ 276 million against Gethal for illegal commercialization and trans portion of noble trees from the Amazon rainforest region.

The commission will also investigate superintendents from the IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), Mr. Henrique Pereira and Mrs Socorro Marques from INCRA (National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform).

Logging company Gethal is not the only one listed on the inquiry report. Environmentalist non-profit organizations in the region will also be investigated, as it is estimated that 55% of the Amazon region is already owned by foreign citizens.

Johan Eliasch is married to a wealthy influential member of Brazilian Society, Ana Paula Junqueira, who is also president of ANUBRA (United Nations Association in Brazil).

According to Rolf Hackbart, INCRA's President, Brazil needs to adopt urgent protective measures. "This is not a matter of xenophobia," Hackbart says, "but sovereignty, since there seems to be a worldwide dispute for control over these lands".

Controversy apart, Brazil has a historic issue of colonization and foreign control. Back in the 1500's, Portuguese colonizers exploited the Atlantic Forest, exporting Brazilwood to Europe. At the time the Atlantic forest occupied 1 million square kilometers of Brazil's coast (approximately 387,000 square miles), today only 8% of the forest is still preserved. The Amazon is not only known for its forests, but also its rich biodiversity, and mineral resources.

Edison Bernardo DeSouza is a journalist, having graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University in São Paulo, Brazil. He lived in the US for close to 10 years and participated in volunteering activities in social works agencies. DeSouza currently lives in São Paulo where he teaches English as a Second Language, and is pursuing further advancements in his career. He is particularly interested in economics and human rights articles.

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BULLSHIT!
written by Gringo, June 18, 2008

Johan Eliasch became famous worldwide, when back in 2006 he announced to be the owner of the Amazon.

Where did he ever say this? Cite or shut up!

The lies over this story have only escaladed in the Brazilian press, and Brazilian journalists should hang their heads in shame (when they are not being tortured by the Militia of course ). This whole witch-hunt is nothing more than a pathetic Keystone Cops exercise in xenaphobia. Didn’t Brazil learn anything after the 1907 witch hunt?

Johan purchased GETHL when it went tits up. He’s not logged; these trumped charges are from before he purchased the company. The fines levied against him are the largest in the nation’s history (of course against a gringo with deep pockets).

When 40,000 are killed in 2007, slave labor still exists in Para, forest destruction is on the rise, a stand off between Indians and rice farmers in Roraima that could turn war like any day, these people have nothing to do but try and back-peddle on a legitimate land deal and waste the tax payers expense on a frivolous charge? That’s Brazil for you. BTW, Brazil wants you to invest here.

According to Rolf Hackbart, INCRA's President, Brazil needs to adopt urgent protective measures. "This is not a matter of xenophobia,"

I CALL BULLSHIT!

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?????????????
written by ch.c., June 18, 2008

Land bought by foreigners...were made legally ! Not with ONE bit with many more officials approvals

Now.......Brazilians are jealous, full of envy and can therefore only target and finger point these buyers.

A typical Brazilian trick.

Looking the way things are going, no doubt that Brazilians politicians are just copying CHAVEZ style.

Cheating, lying, hiding, accusing and then.......NATIONALIZE......what belong to others.
But Brazilians are far worse than CHAVEZ ! They will pay nothing but will have foreigners pay 5 times more what they already paid....through HEAVY FINES !!!!!

i have written many times how Brazil is a Muddy Tropical Country and Brazilians have Muddy Minds.

You prove it on a daily basis.

Brazil is a dictatorial country disguised in Democracy !

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the brasilian government needs to look at the past governor
written by FORREST ALLEN BROWN, June 19, 2008

look at his house on ILIHA BELLA ISLAND WHERE HE OWNS HIS OWN PRAVITE LITTLE
island in national park land !!!!!!!

when he had no real money when he started the job

just walk through the streets of belem or manous , to see all the street vendors selling
tiger teeath , rare bird feathers , and wood from noble trees they cut and sell to the rich brasilians .

go to breves look at all the tons of logs cut to tembers placed on ships and sent all over the world
all brasilian compaines .

go down and watch the roidaviral fedrail see how much money they collect from brasilians smugling
birds , cats , monkeys , and other protected things .

in brasil you just pay off the right public offical and give them money and the law changes until
the witch hunt begins , and then it is pass it on the the gringo .
and let the poor brasilian go free as he did not have the right to sell , give , or own what he sold you .

ho by the way if one would look across from the closed water park in Joao possa in a house owned by a formor state judge

one would find 6 tucans , 5 scarlet ibcis , two hiasen macalls , and a bunch of monkeys

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Throw Them Out Now…
written by ..., June 19, 2008

It is time for Brasil to get real tough with these disguised CIA operatives and throw every single one of these blood-suckers, bottom-dwellers out of Brasil, now.

These arrogant gringos dare to tell us how to manage our own country… The Brasilian people will dictate what, when and how, we manage our own territory and nobody else. All this coming from the biggest polluters of planet Earth, absurd. Another tactic of deceit and hypocrisy from the crusaders with a greedy eye on our resources.

Brasil belongs to us, Brasilians. We are a sovereign nation; the Amazonas is Brasilian territory in the past, the present, and future!

Meanwhile, go back to whatever rock you crawled from under, idiots from hell.

Costinha

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costinha
written by forrest allen brown, June 19, 2008

your stupdity is only matched by your
governments inability to stop stealing from its own people
and then telling the world it is the US fault we are cutting down the rain forest
to sell soy beans to china .and wood to europ and the middle east !!!!

and i am sure if you look into it you will see that the US has done more to clean up
its polution than brasilians could steal on a good day

you take care BOY

you have to share the world with many bottom dellers just look
in the mud pit next to you

its nice to live under rocks by the way

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Florist A$$ Brown
written by ..., June 19, 2008

I'm not being rude - you really are stupid!

My regards (.....o.....) pooofffff....

Costa

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People need to read history
written by friend, June 20, 2008

COSTINHA is not wrong. Looking at Gringo comments, it shows a complete lack of respect towards a country, selfishness of character. If you want to find out what Johan Eliasch said about the Amazon, why don´t you just go on line and research yourself. You are the one who needs to shut up.
I think Brazil has the right and the obligation of making developed countries shut up and leave the Amazon alone. All we have see in the world so far, is that developed countries themselves have history of destroying the planet, look what Europe did to poor countries. Who are the companies that produce the most amount of polution in the planet, Brazilian companies? Look at racism and all sorts of humanity atrocities, look at the Nazzi system, were these things produced by poor countries. I think people just keep on making guesses and speech about democracy, but the truth to be said is : The countries that today call themselves first world, developed, in the past produced slavery, concentration camps and they still more in name of their lazyness. Gringo, you shut up and so do everybody else, who do not support Brazil, he who has no sin cast the first stone, shows me a country with integrity without a bloody history, and then we shall choose the king. As far as I know no one really cares about the indigenous rights, about the clean air, they just want to buy, buy, exploit, exploit, seems like we never left the mercantilism era.

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brasil never left the mercantilism system
written by forrest allen brown, June 20, 2008

Brasil still has slavery .
burns thousands of hectors of cane dumping of tons suit into the worlds air supply .
stilling killing off its indains .
your favalas or no more better than concentration camps for the poor
the class system went out hundreads of years ago but brasil still has it going strong
look how different the blacks and other people of color are treated in brasil that is racism .

most of all export compaines from brasil are owned by brasilians .So they are selling a product they stoled from the country or the people of brasil !!!!.
all the rest of the world is doing is buying what is sold ,

have you ever though that the other countries are trying too help you not make the same mistakes they have .

look at the laws in the US you cut a tree you have to plant 2 .
last year alone 1.2 million deer were kiled in car crashers alone does brasil have that many wild anmials running around , not to mention wild pigs , ducks , other birds , fish ,
the laws were put down and enforced now there is a abundance of wild life all over the US ,
can the same be said about your brasil ????
brasil has the pontincal to be grate one day it just needs a little gudience .

where the first world countries invented the technology and use .brasil and other countries bought or given it with out any real tranning

like giving your16 year old boy beer and the keys to your car
no practila tranning or help

no one is with out a past but if you dewl on it you are domed to repet it over & over

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to allen brown who showed to be a complete historical fool
written by Friend, July 28, 2008

this Allen Brown is in idiot, your country produces war, and hatred. go to chicago and you see the condo with wood floor from the amazon, you protect what is yours, but when it comes to other you have no respect, see what your country does first and then talk about others. what a lack of moral to talk.

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