Brazilian President accused actor Leonardo DiCaprio of involvement in forest fires in the Amazon

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio is funding non-profit organizations (NPOs) that set fire to the Amazonian forests. This writes the Brazilian edition of Estadao.

“Leonardo DiCaprio is a great guy, right? Gives money to set fire to the Amazon, ”Estadao quotes the words of the president. The publication notes that Bolsonaro did not provide any evidence of his words.

He previously claimed that volunteers "take pictures [of the wildfire], send the pictures to an NGO, they distribute them, then contact Leonardo DiCaprio, he gives $500,000 to that NGO."

It is assumed that Bolsonaro's remarks are related to the case against four volunteer fire brigade volunteers from the Brazilian state of Para. Police believe they set fire to the forest to take photos of the fire and receive funding from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The volunteers denied this, as did the Brazilian branch of the foundation . They also said they did not receive funding from DiCaprio.

• Since the beginning of the year, more than 6.5 million hectares of Amazonian forests have been burned in Brazil. The number of forest fires in the country this year was a record for the entire time of observations, which have been conducted since 2013. The Brazilian authorities claimed that the cause of the fires was, among other things, the human factor. Jair Bolsonaro said that NPO employees could set fires.
• Leonardo DiCaprio is the co-founder of Earth Alliance, a charity that has pledged $5 million to fight the Amazon wildfires.