On July 4th, along a dusty backroad in the southwest Brazilian state of Rondônia, near the logging hub of Espigão d’Oeste, unknown assailants stopped a tanker truck, yanked the driver from the cab, and set it ablaze. The truck was carrying aviation fuel to resupply government helicopters supporting an operation against illegal loggers. Fearing further attacks, government agents suspended the operation and withdrew from the area.
The fire didn’t spread beyond the charred wreckage left behind on that road winding through the rainforest. Compared to the wildfires that have since flared up around Rondônia and across the Amazon, stirring outcry from around the world, a single burning truck might seem insignificant.
And yet it epitomized the battle now underway in the
