Questioning by President Jair Bolsonaro reveals concern that the act was criminal with the aim of harming the auction that takes place in November
On the morning of this Friday (18/10), President Jair Bolsonaro returned to comment on the case of the spill of crude oil on the Northeast beach.
This time, Bolsonaro questioned whether or not the oil spill that has hit the northeast since September would be an action taken deliberately to affect interest in the blocks that will be offered by the ANP, during the Assignment of Rights mega auction to take place on November 06 .
In a live broadcast on Facebook alongside the Minister of Defense, General Fernando Azevedo e Silva, and Navy officials, Bolsonaro declared: “Coincidence or not, we have a transfer of rights auction. I ask myself, we have to be very responsible in what we say: could it be a criminal action to harm this auction? It's a question that's up in the air."
“We are aware of our responsibility, the Armed Forces and other government agencies are doing their part”, added the president.
In the video, Bolsonaro again claims that the oil that was found on the beaches is of Venezuelan origin, a fact that has already been proven by analysis of the IBAMA, but that does not mean that the neighboring country is responsible for the environmental disaster.
Admiral Leonardo Puntel, the Navy's commander of naval operations, declared that the oil "very likely" came from a ship and that the slick first arrived in Paraíba and went up to Maranhão, reaching other states along the way.
Investigation
According to a survey by the Navy, 140 oil tankers sailed through the region on the estimated date of the oil spill, but the minister of defense even declared in the video that the case was an environmental crime.
“It's probably an environmental crime, because the ship didn't notify. The Navy, together with other agencies, is checking this possibility”, he declared.
Bolsonaro also affirmed again in the video that the oil, which hit beaches in the Northeast for the first time in early September, would be of Venezuelan origin. On Thursday, Ibama confirmed that the oil is Venezuelan, but stressed that this does not necessarily mean that Venezuela is responsible for the leak. The Venezuelan government has denied responsibility in the case.
It is worth remembering that the auction to which Bolsonaro refers will be the largest oil bidding round in history, where the union intends to raise a total of 106,5 billion reais in signing bonuses for the surplus oil of the so-called transfer of rights.
The amount collected was the subject of intense discussions about the apportionment to be made between states and municipalities.
