Green groups denounce Brazil's 'sham' Amazon tour for foreign diplomats

Campaigners say visit was 'media propaganda' as officials failed to stop at any devastated rainforest areasEnvironmentalists have criticised a three-day tour of the Amazon that the Brazilian government staged for foreign ambassadors as a "sham" and "media propaganda" after it failed to stop at any environmentally devastated areas. The tour ended on Friday and focused on better-protected areas of the northern Amazon. "The government prepared an itinerary that does not show the reality of the Amazon - the abandonment of indigenous peoples, the land grabbing, the illegal mining and the uncontrolled deforestation. It is a sham," said Marcio Astrini, executive director of the Climate Observatory, an umbrella group of environmental NGOs. Continue reading...