Cuban foreign minister calls for response to Amazon disaster

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called on Monday for increased awareness of the magnitude of the disaster in the flame-ridden Amazon and urged action.

On Twitter, the Cuban minister stressed that for more than 20 days, 'the flames have consumed the lungs of the planet, everyone's oxygen.'

He added that the consequences will be dire for humanity. Rodriguez also stressed that the Amazon jungle is everyone's heritage.

According to different sources, more than a million indigenous people in the Amazon are endangered by the wildfires, as is the rich biodiversity of that region of the planet.

The wildfires have raised concern among thousands of Brazilians who have spoken out against President Jair Bolsonaro's inertia on the issue.

For its part, the G7 decided to unblock emergency aid of 20 million euros for the Amazon, mainly to send planes to fight the fires, according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

In addition, the G7 approved a medium-term aid plan for reforestation that will be presented to the UN General Assembly in late September.

It will require the consent of the Brazilian government and joint work with NGOs and local populations.

According to the latest statistics, 79,513 fires have been detected in Brazil since early this year, more than half of them in the Amazon.