Brazilian president opposes changes to Forest Code

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff opposes a parliamentary bill that would pardon farmers who deforested their share of preserved land and reduce that share of the protected land, her top aide said Wednesday.

The bill, passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, amended the country’s Forest Code in a bid to relax restrictions on deforestation. It now heads to the Senate for a final vote, and Rousseff said she hopes the Senators to vote against it, according to her secretary-general Gilberto Carvalho.

If the Senate approves the bill, the president is ready to use her veto power, he said.

“A law is not only for now, it has to consider the future of the country,” Carvalho said. “We will now fight this battle in the Senate.”