ASSOCIATED PRESS • February 5, 2025
The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development will deliver a major blow to efforts including conservation efforts in the Brazilian Amazon. Even if some foreign aid resumes after the 90-day suspension ordered by President Donald Trump, many USAID-backed projects focus on areas he has derided as ideological: climate change, biodiversity and minority and women’s rights, so several recipients fear their projects are now dead. Now everything is at risk, Edinho Macuxi, the leader of the Indigenous Council, said. In recent weeks, his organization, which represents some 60,000 people, laid off workers and canceled activities due to lack of funds.