Strengthening ACTO is the answer to defend the Amazon from other countries

Supported by the environmental agenda, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) has mentioned the possibility of strengthening the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). For experts, betting on the organization is a sure way to defend the Amazon from criminality and the commercial and exploratory interests of other countries. But the block of Amazonian countries should not be reduced to a business counter to encourage foreign investment in NGOs and the sale of carbon credits.

ACTO is an international organization, created by the Amazon Cooperation Treaty. Formed by Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, it brings together the eight Amazonian nations. Among its objectives are the preservation of the Amazon, improving the quality of life of local populations, sharing information and promoting joint actions in the region.

“Historically, the signing of the TCA, in 1978, reflected a response by Brazil and the Amazonian countries to the growing global environmental agenda and, consequently, the risk of losing autonomy in governance in the area,” said Army Colonel and Professor of International Relations at the University Center of Brasília (UniCeub), Oscar Medeiros Filho.

In theory, member countries should contribute financially and hold periodic meetings, although the organization has had few concrete actions and low visibility since its creation.

With the increasing pressure from other countries for the preservation of the Amazon region, Lula and the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, recently proposed that the Amazonian countries play a greater role in the preservation of the region. “We must unite efforts so that, in international discussions, our voice is heard with force, whether in conferences on climate, biodiversity and desertification, or in debates on sustainable development”, said Petro.

Agreeing with the Colombian, Lula defended the institutional strengthening of ACTO and the institutionalization of the Amazonian Parliament. According to the PT, the organization is “a tool that, instead of isolating us, has the ability to launch us into the center of the most important challenge of our time, climate change.”

But the negotiations ended up drifting into a field other than the defense of sovereignty: Lula revealed that he is more interested in passing on to Colombia the model he has been creating of the Amazon Fund.

The petista has made an effort to pressure Western powers such as the United States, France and Great Britain to transfer funds that end up in the hands of NGOs that, in many cases, are more concerned with global interests than with the well-being of the Brazilian population.

International interests are disguised as environmental concerns

In an article, Colonel Medeiros Filho, explains that, in addition to deforestation and organized crime in the region, there is another concern involving the Amazon: “the increase in international pressure on the Amazonian countries coated with an ecological (environmental) narrative, but perceived by the military as a form of greed over the natural resources of that region”.

It is not new that Brazil faces great pressure from other countries to preserve the Amazon region in the preconceived concepts of such nations. This pressure has interfered with the realization of the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, which could generate around R$ 500 billion in business for Brazil. In May of this year, the European bloc presented additional requirements for the agreement, with new environmental commitments that were not foreseen.

Negotiated more than 20 years ago, a free trade document was closed in 2019 by Mercosur, but was not ratified by the European bloc. The new requirements would give the European Union tools to raise tariffs and close access to the European market for products such as beef and grains. In addition to the new impositions, the European Parliament also approved, in December 2022, a new anti-deforestation law.

The new regulation prevents the entry of products originating from areas deforested after December 31, 2020 in the block, even if vegetation suppression has been regular, carried out in compliance with management and the Paris Agreement, in accordance with the legislation of each country, such as the Brazilian Forest Code. This rule should come into force in relation to Brazil at the end of next year.

“There is a question of sovereignty, but also bureaucratic difficulties that would harm small producers, such as the requirement that companies present reports demonstrating the traceability of their production chain. Such measures create bureaucracy, increase costs and exclude these small rural producers”, says the doctor in international relations and researcher at Havard University, Vitélio Brustolin

“This is seen as a protectionist measure, which would affect several commodities Brazilian crops, such as soy, corn, coffee, beef, pork, chicken and sheep, wood, cocoa, rubber and paper”, said Brustolin.

The expert also assesses that “developing countries view this type of attitude with skepticism and justified indignation, especially since many of them have been exploited by those who are now trying to impose barriers to growth”.

“There are very clear ideas for “developing” nations that countries that are now considered “developed” deforested and destroyed their natural resources to reach a high degree of industrialization and that, only after much devastation, did they reforest these areas. These countries also explored others and some still explore”, evaluates Brustolin.

The researcher also explains that there is a perception about these countries that try to “kick the ladder” they climbed by preventing developing countries from adopting the policies and institutions that they themselves used.

That is, foreign powers would be interested in preventing the full development of countries like Brazil to prevent the country from competing with them in the market. That would be the reason for the denial of use strategy: using the excuse of environmental concern to prevent Brazil from fully using its natural resources.

“Therefore, in the discussion of the binomial economic development and ecological development, there are equally complex side issues, such as sovereignty, geopolitics, sustainable development and the certainty that countries do not have friends, but interests. We are all on the same planet and the time is one of preservation for future generations, but that does not prevent facts and history from being recognized”, says Brustolin.

CPI of NGOs in the Chamber wants to denounce entities linked to international interests

Denunciations in recent years have shown that some countries use the actions of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Amazon region to gain access to resources in the region in an undue way – as well as transfers of funds made by the government.

With the intention of investigating such allegations, Senator Plínio Valério (PSDB-AM) worked for the installation in the Federal Senate of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) to investigate the actions of these NGOs. The aim is to investigate the transfer of public funds from the federal government to NGOs, in addition to the inappropriate use of these resources and possible actions of power by these entities in the Amazon.

“We are not going to demonize any NGO, that is not the objective. There are serious NGOs and these will be preserved. What we are going to investigate are the accused, who take money abroad or right here in Brazil, are not accountable and spend 85% of what they collect among themselves. These NGOs do a great disservice, especially to the Amazon”, defended Valério.

The leader of the Agroindígena movement, Luciene Kujãesage Kayabi, said in a CPI session that NGOs have no interest in protecting the region.

“They want what’s on earth. Our ores. The gold, the diamond. We are practically being robbed, all of the Brazilian people, not just indigenous peoples,” he said.

Strengthening ACTO can make Brazil and its neighbors protagonists of the future of the region

ACTO aims to establish a common agenda for the Amazon. The idea is to promote the harmonious development of the Amazonian territories, so that joint actions generate equitable and mutually beneficial results to achieve sustainable development in the region.

For the experts consulted by the People’s Gazettethe Amazonian countries should try to pass on the message to the world that care has been taken to preserve the region and are having effects.

“The central geopolitical idea behind ACTO’s institutional arrangement was that sovereign management over the Amazonian territory should be exclusive to the condomine countries”, points out Medeiros Filho, who holds a PhD in International Relations.

“There is a logic: if we already share the problems, we also have to share the solutions. ACTO presents itself as the best solution to face international pressure on geopolitical issues”, he says.

“Furthermore, it is possible that this structure could include in its scope security issues that mutually threaten those countries, such as cross-border crime and the criminal insurgency that is increasingly present in the region”, he says.

Lula also defended the institutionalization of the Amazonian Parliament

Other points defended by Lula were the institutionalization of the Amazonian Parliament (Parlamaz) and the creation of a Forum of Amazonian Cities. Created in 1989, Parlamaz is made up of the same eight countries as ACTO and it is a space where politicians from these countries can share initiatives and concerns, going beyond the territorial limits of city halls, state governments and countries.

Colonel Oscar Medeiros Filho argues that Parlamaz can be an interesting instrument for strengthening ACTO and “defending the autonomous management of Amazonian countries over their territories in a context of increasing pressure from extra-regional powers, especially due to the climate crisis”.

As found by People’s Gazette with members of the government, however, these terms still need to be evaluated and will go through a series of discussions, including during the Amazon Summit, scheduled to take place between the 4th and 9th of August, in the city of Belém, in Pará.

Government sources also said that decisions about ACTO and the Amazonian Parliament (Parlamaz) will only be endorsed if they have full support from the eight Amazonian countries. For the time being, a working group must be scheduled to deal with the theme, which must go through a long and time-consuming process until reaching a final proposal.

Ideology needs to be set aside for ACTO to fulfill its true function

For ACTO to be able to carry out its role with protagonism, specialists defend that the organization is not contaminated by ideological biases. “Ideological agendas tend to be backwards, especially in recent years, when we observe a polarized country. We must mobilize a nation for what unites us, not for what separates us. The Amazon unites us”, defends Medeiros Filho.

“ACTO is an organization with a geopolitical issue. The central geopolitical idea behind the institutional arrangement was that sovereign management over the Amazonian territory should be exclusive to the condomine countries.

Although eight countries make up the Amazon rainforest, Brazil owns 60% of the area. For the colonel, Brazil should not miss the chance to become a protagonist in the defense of the Amazon. He points out that the country is currently an environmental power, with power inputs related to water, energy and food security.

“Climate change has been presented as the existential threat of our times. In this sense, for the first time in history, Brazil occupies a central position in an international security issue. Faced with international pressure, which tends to be ever greater, leading an organization like ACTO seems to be the best antidote against the geopolitical and security threats of the future”, concludes the expert.