Comedians from the Brazilian
TV show "Panic on TV" attempt
to give the governor of Mato Grosso state,
Blairo Maggi, the Golden Chainsaw award.
19/06/2005 — Blairo Maggi has won the Golden
Chainsaw award for the Brazilian person
who most contributed to Amazon destruction.
Sadly, rather than accept the award from
his celebrity presenters, the 'Soya King'
slunk out through the back door of the school
he was visiting, to the taunting shouts
of hundreds of children.
Our internet-based Golden Chainsaw award,
for the Brazilian most responsible for Amazon
destruction, ended with 27,849 votes of
which Maggi, the Governor of Mato Grosso
state and the world's largest individual
soya producer, received 10,348 votes (37
percent). He was followed by Brazilian President
Lula da Silva, with 7,314 votes (26 percent).
Our Amazon Campaigner Paulo Adario assured
us that Maggi was a deserving winner. "Maggi
deserved the award. After two years as the
State Governor, he has turned Mato Grosso
into the State champion of deforestation,
responsible for 48 percent of the total
forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon,"
he said.
Three comedians from a popular TV show
in Brazil, Pânico na TV (Panic on
TV) tried to deliver the Golden Chainsaw
statuette to Blairo Maggi on Wednesday at
a school in Cuiabá, capital of Mato
Grosso. However the State Governor refused
to accept the award and the presenters were
removed from the school by security. More
than 1,000 people, including hundreds of
children, responded to this eviction by
calling on Maggi to show up and accept the
statuette, shouting: "Maggi, Maggi…
Accept it, accept it" and "Protect
nature." But to their disappointment,
Maggi had left through a back door.
"We are extremely happy to have both
the artists (from Pânico na TV) and
their fans' support for our campaign,"
said Adario. "This is yet another way
to take such an important issue as the protection
of the Amazon into people's daily lives."
The Awards certainly captured peoples' imaginations
- the local newspaper sold a record number
of copies on the day of the presentation,
and Pânico na TV has an audience of
about 40 million people!
The other nominees for the person who most
contributed to record levels of Amazon destruction
were the Federal Ministers José Dirceu
(Civil House), Antonio Palocci (Treasury)
and Roberto Rodrigues (Agriculture) and
the Governor of the Para State Simão
Jatene.
