Brazil Considers Amazon Development

In an incredibly boneheaded move, Brazil considers development in the rain forest. Deforestation be damned.

clipped from www.afp.com Brazil is preparing a controversial plan to develop parts of the Amazon and shed the idea of the area being a "sanctuary", even as warnings mount over the threat of deforestation to the vast and important zone. Two ministers offered contrasting evaluations of the Amazon on Wednesday in declarations that underlined the struggle between competing interests inside President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government. Strategic Affairs Minister Roberto Mangabeira Unger told congress that a development plan was being readied that would finish with the "wrong idea" that the Amazon "can be kept as a sanctuary for mankind's enjoyment without productive activity."