PORTO VELHO, Brazil • Acrimony between Brazil and European countries seeking to help fight Amazon fires deepened on Tuesday, jeopardizing hopes of global unity over how to protect a region seen as vital to the health of the planet.

A personal spat between the leaders of Brazil and France seemed to dominate the dispute, but it also centered on Brazilian perceptions of alleged interference by Europe on matters of sovereignty, economic development and the rights of indigenous people. Brazil said it will set conditions for accepting any aid from the Group of Seven nations, which offered tens of millions of dollars for firefighting and rainforest protections,

The Amazon’s rainforests are a major absorber of carbon dioxide, considered a critical defense against rising temperatures and other disruptions caused by climate change. While many of the recorded fires this year were set in already deforested areas by people clearing land for cultivation or pasture, Brazilian government figures indicate that they are much more widespread this year, suggesting the threat to the vast ecosystem is intensifying.

The effect of the fires was evident in the Amazonian city of Porto Velho, where a thick pall of smoke covered the sky for most of the day. Elane Diaz, a nurse in the city, spoke about respiratory problems while waiting for a doctor’s appointment at a hospital with her 5-year-old-son Eduardo.

“The kids are affected the most. They’re coughing a lot,” Diaz said. “They have problems breathing. I’m concerned because it affects their health.”

Still, Diaz and some other residents in Porto Velho, the capital of Rondonia state, were supportive of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, saying he was doing what he could to protect the Amazon and that international criticism was unfounded.

“Germany had already been helping through NGOs and they couldn’t prevent this,” said Mona Lisa Pereira, an agronomist. “It seems like this is the fire of a lifetime. But it’s not. We have fires every year.”

Bolsonaro, who took office this year with a promise to boost development in Latin America’s biggest economy, has questioned whether offers of international aid mask a plot to exploit the Amazon’s resources and weaken Brazilian growth.

On Tuesday, he said French President Emmanuel Macron had called him a liar and that he would have to apologize before Brazil considers accepting rainforest aid.

Macron has to retract those comments “and then we can speak,” Bolsonaro said.

In a video message, Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho offered an apology to France for what he called Bolsonaro’s “hysteria,” saying the Brazilian government had resorted to insults to dodge responsibility for the Amazon fires.

Bolsonaro met governors of states in the Amazon region, some of whom criticized laws that protect the environment and the rights of indigenous people that they said limited opportunities for economic development.

Fire consumes the Amazon rainforest in Altamira, Brazil, on Tuesday. Fires across the Brazilian Amazon have sparked an international outcry for preservation of the world’s largest rainforest.

the associated press