The chief of Brazil's environmental protection agency resigned on Monday after the new government led by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro - a critic of its treatment of mining and farm interests - raised questions over its spending.
Suelly Araujo said in a letter to Environment Minister Ricardo Salles that she would step down on Tuesday as head of the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Resources, IBAMA. She had led the agency since June 2016.
Salles last week tweeted an excerpt from an Ibama contract signed in July 2018 for the rental of vehicles at a cost of 28.7 million reais ($7.8 million at current exchange rates).
"Nearly 30 million reais in car rentals for Ibama alone," Salles said in his post. That was retweeted - then deleted - by Bolsonaro, who added that his government was uncovering "mountains of irregularities."

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019

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