US urges ‘accountability’ in Brazil for murdered journalist, expert

• The US demands accountability for the assassination of a British journalist and an Indigenous expert in the Brazilian Amazon.
• The journalists were killed for “promoting protection of the rainforest and native peoples,”US State Department says.
• President Joe Biden met with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro last week.

WASHINGTON – The US demanded accountability for the assassination of a British journalist and an Indigenous expert in the Brazilian Amazon on Friday, while praising rainforest protectors.

The families of journalist Dom Phillips and his expert guide Bruno Pereira were “murdered for promoting protection of the rainforest and native peoples there,” according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

Price remarked on Twitter, “We demand for responsibility and justice – we must collaboratively reinforce efforts to protect environmental defenders and journalists.”

The assassinations were verified just days after President Joe Biden met for the first time with his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, who has come under fire for his handling of the incident.

According to activists, Bolsonaro has sacrificed law and order in the Amazon in order to encourage economic expansion.

In an interview, Bolsonaro appeared to blame the missing men for taking a “risky” journey in an area where Phillips was “disliked.”

Bolsonaro, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, appeared buoyant after meeting Biden on the margins of a gathering in Los Angeles a week ago.

During the conference, Biden expressed concern about climate change and deforestation in the Amazon, which serves as a critical “sink” for the planet’s carbon emissions.

The murders of Phillips and Pereira acted alone, according to Brazilian authorities, and were not members of a criminal gang, according to Indigenous elders.