- Greta Thunberg voiced concern about the killings of indigenous Brazilians
- Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro responded by calling her a ‘brat’
- The teenage climate activist later adopted the description for her Twitter profile
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg was today labelled a ‘brat’ by Brazil’s strongman leader Jair Bolsonaro in a row over deaths in the Amazon.
Bolsonaro took aim at Thunberg, 16, after she voiced concern over Brazil’s deforestation of the Amazon and the killings of indigenous people in the rainforest.
‘Greta said that the Indians died because they were defending the Amazon,’ Bolsonaro told a group of journalists.
‘It’s impressive that the press is giving space to a brat like that,’ he added, using the Portuguese word ‘pirralha’.
Following Bolsonaro’s comments, Thunberg adopted the term ‘pirralha’ for her Twitter profile.
Thunberg’s comments about the deaths of indigenous people came as the UN was hosting its international climate change conference, where Brazil’s environmental policies have been the subject of criticism.
Deforestation of its Amazon rose nearly 30 per cent in the 12 months to July.
‘Indigenous people are being literally murdered for trying to protect the forest from illegal deforestation,’ Thunberg wrote on Twitter, sharing a link on the subject.
‘Over and over again. It is shameful that the world remains silent about this.’
Two indigenous men of the Guajajara tribe in the eastern Amazon were killed in a drive-by shooting on Saturday.
They died not far from where a prominent tribesman who defended the Amazon rainforest was also killed last month.
The teenager previously drew the ire of Donald Trump at a UN summit in New York three months ago.
At the UN she tore into world leaders in a memorable speech, accusing them of ‘stealing my dreams and my childhood with your empty words’.
Trump, a climate change skeptic, sarcastically tweeted that she ‘seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future’.
Following Bolsonaro’s comments, Greta changed the bio on her Twitter profile to say ‘Pirralha’
Thunberg later adopted the description for her own Twitter profile.
Her angry glare at Trump after he upstaged her by walking into the climate summit with his entourage also became a viral sensation.
Thunberg sailed to New York on a racing yacht as she refuses to fly on polluting planes, and recently returned to Europe on a 48-foot catamaran.
