Brazil Environment Minister Resigns After Illegal Logging Inquiry

Ricardo Salles, environment minister in Brazil, announced his resignation last week amid an investigation into whether he obstructed a police inquiry into illegal logging, CNN reports.

Salles denied any wrongdoing. "I understand that Brazil, throughout this year and the next year, in terms of international insertion and also on the national agenda, needs to have a very strong union of interests, desires and efforts," Salles said in a news conference announcing his resignation, according to CNN. "And for this to be done as smoothly as possible, I presented my request for resignation to the President, which was granted."

A resurgence in deforestation in the Amazon has occurred since Salles assumed Brazil’s environmental role in 2019. Both Salles and Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro have championed lessening environmental regulations in the country.

Officials are investigating Salles for administrative advocacy, hindering of environmental inspection and hindering an investigation of a criminal offense involving a criminal organization, according to CNN. Brazil’s federal police are also investigating Salles for allegedly using his position to weaken inspections on timber exports by Brazil’s environmental agency.