This archive report was first published on 30 November 2019.
Published on November 30, 2019, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro accused actor Leonardo DiCaprio of 'collaborating with the fires in the Amazon' by donating $500,000 to a group he claimed had started fires in the ecologically sensitive forest to attract donations.
However, DiCaprio denied the allegations, stating on his Instagram account, 'While worthy of support, we did not fund the organizations targeted.'
DiCaprio's denial came after Bolsonaro repeated the accusations on Friday, claiming that DiCaprio had earmarked a part of the $500,000 'for the people who were setting fires.'
DiCaprio, an environmental activist, countered that 'the future of these irreplaceable ecosystems is at stake, and I am proud to stand with the groups protecting them.'
He praised those in Brazil working 'to save their natural and cultural heritage.'
The controversy surrounds the Alter do Chao volunteer fire brigade, which has helped combat huge blazes in northern Para state since 2018. However, regional police claim that some members linked to the group have actually started fires to raise international funding.
Four of the group's members were arrested on Tuesday before being released two days later. Investigators say the volunteers set several fires to sell photos of the blazes to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for use in a campaign to raise international donations.
WWF's Brazil subsidiary has denied the allegations, stating that it transferred only around 70,000 reals ($16,800) to the local group for firefighting equipment.
Bolsonaro, an advocate of greater commercial exploitation of the Amazon, blamed NGOs for the fires in August that destroyed vast swaths of the rainforest, drawing widespread international condemnation of his stewardship of the Amazon.
