How the Chancellor of Germany angered the Brazilians. “Merz, your xenophobia is the new Berlin Wall”

Statements made by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, considered derogatory to the Amazonian city of Belem, which is hosting the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference, have sparked a wave of indignation in Brazil, especially among local authorities, reports AFP.

Belem, the capital of the state of Para in northern Brazil, is a city of 1.4 million inhabitants with a hot and humid climate and limited infrastructure, where more than half the population lives in favelas.

The controversy erupted when Brazilian media published the conservative chancellor's remarks on Monday after his return from the summit of heads of state ahead of COP30 on November 6 and 7.

“We live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I asked the journalists who accompanied me to Brazil last week: 'Which of you would like to stay here?'” Nobody raised their hand, Friedrich Merz said during a conference in Berlin.

“Everyone was excited to get back to Germany and leave that place,” he insisted.

The governor of the Brazilian state of Para, Helder Barbalho, did not hide his indignation, condemning the “prejudiced speech of the German chancellor” on the X social network.

“It is curious to see that those who have contributed to global warming are surprised by the heat in the Amazon,” he added.

“Unfortunately, the German chancellor gave a speech full of arrogance and prejudice, unlike his people, who show their fascination for our city on the streets of Belem,” said the mayor of the city, Igor Normando, also on X.

On the UOL news site, a column by journalist Jamil Chade published on Tuesday was headlined: “Merz, your xenophobia is the new Berlin Wall.”

Following the controversy, a spokesman for Friedrich Merz sent a statement to Agence France Presse saying that the head of the German government “expressed his regret that lack of time prevented him (…) from discovering more of the impressive natural beauty of the Amazonian region”.

He also expressed his “great respect for the success of organizing such an important international conference in Belem”.

Brazil's leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has insisted that this UN climate conference be held in the Amazon, despite criticism of Belem's infrastructure problems.

In a speech to a COP30 plenary session on Monday, German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider struck a very different tone from the chancellor's, saying the “wonderful people of Brazil” had “captivated him with their warm hospitality”.