Greta Thunberg said that the struggle for social, environmental and racial justice is the “same struggle” (File)
BRASILIA / SAO PAULO:
The American fight for racial justice after the police murder of George Floyd is part of the fight against climate change and for social justice that unites us all, adolescent climate activist Greta Thunberg said on Friday.
“We must remain united and remember that the fight for social justice, environmental justice, racial justice and climate justice is the same fight,” said Thunberg, when asked by journalists about any link between his school strike movement and the American demonstrations against racism.
The 17-year-old Swede is known for lambasting world leaders for their inaction on climate change, but faced with national protests in the United States and the coronavirus pandemic, she broadened her message.
Thunberg was speaking at the launch of a crowdfunding campaign to buy medical supplies and provide telemedicine services to residents of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, where the lack of robust health services has made the disease devastating.
She said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had failed to manage the crisis. On Thursday evening, the Brazilian Ministry of Health reported 1,437 deaths from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to more than 34,000 and surpassing Italy to become the country with the third highest number of deaths in the world.
“The Bolsonaro government has definitely failed in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic as many other governments have done,” Thunberg said during a videoconference with reporters.
The Brazilian presidency declined to comment.
Bolsonaro strongly criticized measures to shut down non-core businesses and keep residents inside to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, saying the economic damage done is worse than the risk to health itself.
Governments around the world, including Brazil, “have failed to save lives and as a result, we have seen many deaths that could have been prevented,” said Thunberg.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
