Brazil's far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro will merge the ministries of agriculture and the environment, an aide says, in a move which critics say could endanger the Amazon rainforest. Mr Bolsonaro's future chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, announced the new "super ministry" as details of the new administration began to emerge.
The controversial new Brazilian leader is supported by the agribusiness lobby. A former environment minister tweeted that the move was "tragic". "This disastrous decision will bring serious damage to Brazil and will pass on to consumers abroad the idea that all Brazilian agribusiness survives thanks to the destruction of forests," Marina Silva said.
Earlier, Vice President-elect Hamilton Mourao dismissed environmentalists' concerns about development in the Amazon, saying the government would act responsibly by managing the spread of agriculture in the region.
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