On his block of land deep in the
Amazon rainforest, Aurelio Andrade says deforestation is the only way he and other farmers can survive in the remote region where fires are raging.
"Here we have no support from the federal government or anyone else, only from God," Andrade tells AFP, wearing an army camouflage T-shirt and matching hat, on his property 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Porto Velho in the northwestern state of Rondonia.
"We cut trees to plant grass to survive, so that the cattle eat," says the portly Andrade, apparently oblivious to the growing global outcry over the worst fires in years.