President Jair Bolsonaro has described reports about severe hunger in Brazil as “a big lie”, claiming it is not a problem for the country.

“Talking about starving in Brazil is a big lie,” he said on Friday morning while having breakfast with foreign reporters.

He conceded that in some cases it might “go bad” and that people might “not eat well”.

But starvation is not an issue for Brazil, he added. “You don’t see poor people on the streets with skeletal physiques as you see in some other countries around the world.”

Brazil was removed from the UN hunger map in 2004, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says less than 2.5 per cent of Brazilians were undernourished the past three years.

Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Show all 20 1 /20 Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Indigenous Macuxi children play at the community of Maturuca on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation, Roraima state, Brazil Photos Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat The Macuxi fear the return of farmers, illegal gold miners and poachers, all of whom are emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and his moves to weaken their rights Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat A child from an indigenous tribe eats a watermelon Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Children play in Uailan river in Romaira state Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Chief Aldenir Lima, the leader of the 70 communities on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation next to a monument honouring the tribes and their struggle to secure land rights Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Sideneia Francisco de Lima, 15, looks out of her house on the reservation Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Indigenous Macuxi children dance in a ceremony for indigenous leaders Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Macuxi people play football on the reservation Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat ‘I want to ask the new president Jair Bolsonaro to respect indigenous people and our constitutional rights,’ says community leader Tereza Pereira de Souza, her hair crowned with a headdress of yellow feathers. ‘It took us 30 years to get our land borders legally recognised and registered’ Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat The night sky above the reservation. Brazil’s 900,000 indigenous people make up less than 1 per cent of the population and live on reservations that account for 13 per cent of the territory Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Macuxi leader Orlando Pereirana da Silva, 73, weighs cattle meat at the community of Uailan Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat A Macuxi cowboy stands on a rock Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Bolsonaro says they live in abject poverty and hunger and should be assimilated instead of being confined to reservations like ‘zoo animals’ Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Any attempt to change the reservation’s legal status would likely be opposed by the Supreme Court on the grounds that Brazil’s 1988 Constitution protects indigenous land rights Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat A teacher writes on a board at an indigenous cultural centre Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Anthropologists warn that removing protections would destroy the traditions and languages of the Macuxi and four other related tribes on the reservation Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat ‘Nature is our life, our blood and our spirit, because it gives us sustenance,’ says Martinho de Souza, a Macuxi shaman. ‘We were born on this land, we live here and we will die here.’ Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Nearby, in the shaman’s village of Tamanduá, chickens run about. The village is named after a type of anteater, a large mammal in danger of extinction Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat A Macuxi woman takes a shower Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Macuxi leader Tuchaua Gilmario Pereira in a blue feather headdress Reuters

According to FAO data published in September 2018, fewer than 5.2 million people were undernourished in Brazil in 2017 – a significant improvement from the 20.9 million figure recorded in 1999.

But the figure is up from “fewer than 5.1 million” in 2014.

Brazil is now teetering on the brink of a new recession after the country went through the worst economic recession in its history in 2015-16, and increasing poverty levels have left experts concerned that severe hunger could rise further.

Government data indicates 54.8 million Brazilians are poor, about 26.5 per cent of the population, and according to the Institute for Statistics and Poverty, 9 million Brazilians under 14 live in extreme poverty.

FAO says some 22 million Brazilians were obese in 2017.

Mr Bolsonaro backtracked on his statements when asked again by other journalists later the same day.

“Look, Brazilians eat badly. Some go hungry,” he acknowledged. “Now in a country as rich as ours, with arable land, water in abundance, that’s unacceptable.”

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During the discussion with reporters on Friday, Mr Bolsonaro also appeared to complain about the international press allegedly misrepresenting his administration and about external pressure to influence policies on the Amazon.

“The Amazon is ours, not yours,” he told foreign correspondents.

He also questioned Brazil’s official data on deforestation rates, claiming that “If all the deforestation data of the last few years were true, the Amazon wouldn’t exist.”

Data from the government’s satellite monitoring agency indicated in June the Brazilian Amazon lost 739 square kilometres in just one month.