Germany’s Merz under fire in Brazil for his comments on Amazon host city of COP30

SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazilian authorities on Tuesday railed against comments by Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz in which he appeared to look down on Belem, a city on the edge of the Amazon rainforest where the United Nations’ Climate Summit is taking place.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Para state Gov. Helder Barbalho, Belem Mayor Igor Normando, and several lawmakers have pushed back against Merz, who traveled to Brazil earlier in November to discuss climate measures with other leaders.

Upon his return to Germany, Merz said at a trade conference in Berlin that he was happy to leave the city. He said in his speech that his country’s prosperous and free environment should be celebrated.

“We live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Last week I asked some journalists who were with me in Brazil: Which of you would like to stay here? No one raised their hand,” Merz said. “They were all happy that, above all, we returned from this place to Germany in the night from Friday to Saturday.”

Late on Tuesday, Germany’s chancellery did not reply to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Brazil’s foreign office declined to make public comments since Sunday, when news of Merz’s speech quickly spread in the country’s social media. Lula finally addressed them during a speech at the unveiling of a new bridge in the southern part of the Amazon.

“The German chancellor complained these days: ‘I went to Belem, but I came back quickly because I actually like Berlin.’ He should have gone to a pub, he should have danced, he should have tried the food in the state of Para. He would then notice that Berlin doesn’t give him 10% of the quality offered by Para state and the city of Belem,” the Brazilian president said.

Germany is a key donor of the Amazon Fund, a Brazilian government initiative to combat deforestation. Merz pledged on Nov. 7 in Belem to make a “considerable” investment in an initiative named the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, crafted by Lula’s administration, aiming to support more than 70 developing countries that commit to preservation.

Barbalho, the Para state governor, used his social media channels to say Merz had made “a prejudiced speech that shows more about the one who gave it than about its topic.”

“It is curious to see someone who pushed the planet to be warmer to find the heat of the Amazon so weird,” he added.

Normando, the mayor of Belem, said Merz was “prejudiced and arrogant” in his comments.

“That’s quite different from his own people, who have shown their enchantment for our city in the streets of Belem,” he said. “Chancellor, we will continue to treat with respect and joy everyone who comes to visit. That’s what we do best.”

Duda Salabert, a lawmaker, said “there’s no way we can take seriously any leader who speaks about climate protection, but shows discomfort as he steps into the world’s biggest rainforest.”

Paes, the Rio mayor, was much less diplomatic and called Merz “a Nazi,” among other insults, for his comments on Belem. Later, he deleted the insults from his account on X.

“I have already vented out today. Everyone at the foreign office can be calm now,” Paes said. “Long live the friendship between Brazil and Germany, which moves me!”