Marina Silva
Encyclopedia
Maria Osmarina Marina Silva Vaz de Lima (born near Rio Branco
, in Acre
on February 8, 1958) is a Brazilian environmentalist and politician. Ms. Silva was a colleague of Chico Mendes
, who was assassinated for defending the Amazon environment. She was a member of the Partido dos Trabalhadores
until August 19, 2009 and served as a senator before becoming environmental minister in 2003. In 1996, Ms. Silva won the Goldman Environmental Prize
for South & Central America. In 2007, the United Nations Environment Program named her one of the Champions of the Earth
and the 2009 Sophie Prize
. Running in the 2010 Brazilian elections
, she won 19.4% of the popular votes.
In 2010, she along with Cécile Duflot
, Monica Frassoni
, Elizabeth May
and Renate Künast
were named by Foreign Policy
magazine to its list of top global thinkers, for taking Green
mainstream.
parents on both her maternal and paternal lines. Silva grew up as one of eleven children in a community of rubber tappers
on the Bagasse
(Bagaço) rubber tree plantation (Portuguese
Seringal Bagaço), in the western state of Acre
. Orphaned at age 16, young Marina moved to the state capital, Rio Branco, where she received a Catholic education as she worked as a maid. She graduated in history from the Federal University of Acre at 26 and became increasingly politically active. In 1984 Ms. Silva helped create Acre's first workers' union. She led demonstrations called empates with Chico Mendes
to warn against deforestation
and the outplacement of forest communities from their traditional locations.
's federal senate. As a native Amazonian and a senator, she built support for environmental protection of the reserves as well as for social justice and sustainable development
in the Amazon region.
Deforestation decreased by 59% from 2004 to 2007, during which she implemented an integrated government policy. It simultaneously fostered sustainable development, favored territorial zoning, and attached greater value to standing forests. It also incorporated elements from international conventions and documents. “All of this demonstrates that, when there is integrated planning and effort, it is truly possible to change the picture,” Silva said in a statement to the Embassy of Brazil in London.
, Marina Silva was appointed Brazil's Environment Minister by Lula
in his first term (2003). She remained in office until 2008 and received several criticisms of entrepreneurs (mainly related to agribusiness
) on account of delays in granting permits for projects with large environmental impact. In early 2005, however, she stated that she would not give up upon facing challenges even if imposed by the government to which she belonged, like when the controversy over the Sao Francisco River Diversion Project
happened. and the building of BR 163 highway through the rainforest
: "I don't admit defeat, just challenges that must be overcome".
Also in 2005, Silva established the main lines of action for the next two years: social participation, sustainable development
, creation of a National Environmental System and an Integrated Environmental Policy. As she said, "Our ministry is new. It's only 13 years old, and it needs to be rebuilt".
In the same year, Silva was confronted by Paulo Adário, coordinator of Greenpeace Brazil
, over her environmental actions in her tenure in the ministry. Ever since her tenure began, Ms. Silva, together with the Federal Police, the Brazilian Army
and the Federal Highway Police, the Brazilian Environment Ministry performed 32 operations against illegal deforestation
in the Amazon. But Adário claims that his organization monitors the Amazon region and that only one of such operations was conducted in October 2004, in the town of Itaituba
, Pará
. According to him, even if the 32 operations had actually been accomplished, this would represent only half of what was anticipated in the National Plan to Combat Deforestation.
. Silva cited "the growing resistance found by our team in important sectors of the government and society" as the reason for her resignation. The last straw for her came when President Lula da Silva
designated Roberto Mangabeira Unger
, the minister for strategic affairs, to coordinate an "Amazon sustainable development initiative" instead of her, who had been reared in the tropical rainforest she sought to preserve. She had become increasingly isolated in Lula da Silva
's government due to her views on hydroelectric dams, biofuels, and genetically modified crops.
"It's time to start praying [for the rainforest
]," Sérgio Leitão, the director of public policy for Greenpeace
in Brazil, said after Silva's resignation.
to the Green Party
, primarily in protest against the environmental policies endorsed by the PT
. She has also become a Pentecostal Christian in the Assemblies of God
, the second largest Christian denomination in Brazil after the declining but still mainstream Roman Catholic church.
Confirming the expectations, Marina Silva launched her candidacy to the 2010 election
under the Green Party ticket on May 16, 2010 in the city of Nova Iguaçu, state of Rio de Janeiro
.
Besides belonging to non-mainstream Christianity in Brazil, Silva said she wanted to be "the first African-Brazilian woman of poor origin" to become president of Brazil.
She was eliminated in the first round of presidential voting, receiving 19.4% of the votes cast. This number far exceeded earlier estimates and was responsible for forcing a runoff vote between Dilma and José Serra
.
Rio Branco
Rio Branco is a Brazilian city, capital of Acre. Located in the Valley of Acre in northern Brazil, it is the most populous county in the state, with 305,954 inhabitants, according to a 2009 estimate - almost half the state population....
, in Acre
Acre (state)
Acre is one of the 27 states of Brazil. It is situated in the southwest of the Northern Region, bordering Amazonas to the north, Rondônia to the east, Bolivia to the southeast and the Ucayali Region of Peru to the south and west. It occupies an area of 152,581.4 km2, being slightly smaller...
on February 8, 1958) is a Brazilian environmentalist and politician. Ms. Silva was a colleague of Chico Mendes
Chico Mendes
Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, better known as Chico Mendes , was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples...
, who was assassinated for defending the Amazon environment. She was a member of the Partido dos Trabalhadores
Workers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
until August 19, 2009 and served as a senator before becoming environmental minister in 2003. In 1996, Ms. Silva won the Goldman Environmental Prize
Goldman Environmental Prize
The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. The prize includes a no-strings-attached award of...
for South & Central America. In 2007, the United Nations Environment Program named her one of the Champions of the Earth
Champions of the Earth
The United Nations Environment Programme established Champions of the Earth in 2004 as an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders at a policy level...
and the 2009 Sophie Prize
Sophie Prize
The Sophie Prize is an international environment and development prize and is awarded annually. It was established in 1997 by the Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder and his wife Siri Dannevig, and it is named after Gaarder's novel Sophie's World. An award ceremony is set for June 22 in Oslo, Norway...
. Running in the 2010 Brazilian elections
Brazilian presidential election, 2010
The Brazilian presidential election was held in 2010 with two rounds of balloting. The first round was held on October 3 along with other elections as part of the 2010 general election...
, she won 19.4% of the popular votes.
In 2010, she along with Cécile Duflot
Cécile Duflot
Cécile Duflot is a French politician. She is Party Secretary of Europe Écologie–The Greens, a position she has held since November 2006 and is, with Jean-Luc Bennahmias, the only Green leader to have served two consecutive terms .-Biography:The eldest daughter of a...
, Monica Frassoni
Monica Frassoni
Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician and was a Member of the European Parliament for the North West of Italy until 2009. She is a member of the Italian Green Party, part of the European Greens. Frassoni was co-chair, together with Daniel Cohn-Bendit, of the European Greens–European Free...
, Elizabeth May
Elizabeth May
Elizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...
and Renate Künast
Renate Künast
Renate Künast is a German politician who is chairwoman of the Alliance '90/The Greens Bundestag parliamentary group. She was the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture from 2001 to 2005...
were named by Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
magazine to its list of top global thinkers, for taking Green
Green politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
mainstream.
Early life
Ms. Silva is descendent of Portuguese and black AfricanAfro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
parents on both her maternal and paternal lines. Silva grew up as one of eleven children in a community of rubber tappers
Rubber tapping
Rubber tapping is the process by which the sap is collected from a rubber tree. An incision is made in the tree's bark, which cuts through the planting cycle to optimise the latex yield....
on the Bagasse
Bagasse
Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice. It is currently used as a biofuel and as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials....
(Bagaço) rubber tree plantation (Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
Seringal Bagaço), in the western state of Acre
Acre (state)
Acre is one of the 27 states of Brazil. It is situated in the southwest of the Northern Region, bordering Amazonas to the north, Rondônia to the east, Bolivia to the southeast and the Ucayali Region of Peru to the south and west. It occupies an area of 152,581.4 km2, being slightly smaller...
. Orphaned at age 16, young Marina moved to the state capital, Rio Branco, where she received a Catholic education as she worked as a maid. She graduated in history from the Federal University of Acre at 26 and became increasingly politically active. In 1984 Ms. Silva helped create Acre's first workers' union. She led demonstrations called empates with Chico Mendes
Chico Mendes
Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, better known as Chico Mendes , was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples...
to warn against deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
and the outplacement of forest communities from their traditional locations.
Silva as a Senator
In 1994, Ms. Silva was the first rubber tapper ever elected to BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
's federal senate. As a native Amazonian and a senator, she built support for environmental protection of the reserves as well as for social justice and sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
in the Amazon region.
Deforestation decreased by 59% from 2004 to 2007, during which she implemented an integrated government policy. It simultaneously fostered sustainable development, favored territorial zoning, and attached greater value to standing forests. It also incorporated elements from international conventions and documents. “All of this demonstrates that, when there is integrated planning and effort, it is truly possible to change the picture,” Silva said in a statement to the Embassy of Brazil in London.
Silva as Lula's Minister
Member of the Workers' PartyWorkers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
, Marina Silva was appointed Brazil's Environment Minister by Lula
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
in his first term (2003). She remained in office until 2008 and received several criticisms of entrepreneurs (mainly related to agribusiness
Agribusiness
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....
) on account of delays in granting permits for projects with large environmental impact. In early 2005, however, she stated that she would not give up upon facing challenges even if imposed by the government to which she belonged, like when the controversy over the Sao Francisco River Diversion Project
São Francisco River
The São Francisco is a river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil...
happened. and the building of BR 163 highway through the rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
: "I don't admit defeat, just challenges that must be overcome".
Also in 2005, Silva established the main lines of action for the next two years: social participation, sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
, creation of a National Environmental System and an Integrated Environmental Policy. As she said, "Our ministry is new. It's only 13 years old, and it needs to be rebuilt".
In the same year, Silva was confronted by Paulo Adário, coordinator of Greenpeace Brazil
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
, over her environmental actions in her tenure in the ministry. Ever since her tenure began, Ms. Silva, together with the Federal Police, the Brazilian Army
Brazilian Army
The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America and during the 19th century, such as the Brazilian War of Independence , Argentina-Brazil War , War of the Farrapos , Platine War , Uruguayan War ...
and the Federal Highway Police, the Brazilian Environment Ministry performed 32 operations against illegal deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
in the Amazon. But Adário claims that his organization monitors the Amazon region and that only one of such operations was conducted in October 2004, in the town of Itaituba
Itaituba
-Culture:The biggest festival in Itaituba is Our lady de Santana's Party, for padroeira of the municipal district, the festivities are during the first fortnight of July and finishes with Círio's Procession, same month on the 26th, dedicated to that holy....
, Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
. According to him, even if the 32 operations had actually been accomplished, this would represent only half of what was anticipated in the National Plan to Combat Deforestation.
Resignation
Silva resigned mid-May in 2008. She was replaced by Carlos MincCarlos Minc
Carlos Minc is a Brazilian geographer, professor, environmentalist, politician and Minister of Environment in Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's second term as president of Brazil.-Personal life:...
. Silva cited "the growing resistance found by our team in important sectors of the government and society" as the reason for her resignation. The last straw for her came when President Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
designated Roberto Mangabeira Unger
Roberto Mangabeira Unger
Roberto Mangabeira Unger is a philosopher and politician. He has written widely on social, political, legal, and economic theory, much of which has laid the philosophical and theoretical groundwork for reimagining and remaking the social and political order...
, the minister for strategic affairs, to coordinate an "Amazon sustainable development initiative" instead of her, who had been reared in the tropical rainforest she sought to preserve. She had become increasingly isolated in Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
's government due to her views on hydroelectric dams, biofuels, and genetically modified crops.
"It's time to start praying [for the rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
]," Sérgio Leitão, the director of public policy for Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
in Brazil, said after Silva's resignation.
Party switch and Presidential Bid
On August 19, 2009, Silva announced her switch from the Workers' PartyWorkers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
to the Green Party
Green Party (Brazil)
The Brazilian Green Party was constituted after the military dictatorship period and, like other Green Parties around the world, is committed to establishing a set of policies on ensuring social-democracy and sustainable development...
, primarily in protest against the environmental policies endorsed by the PT
Workers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
. She has also become a Pentecostal Christian in the Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
, the second largest Christian denomination in Brazil after the declining but still mainstream Roman Catholic church.
Confirming the expectations, Marina Silva launched her candidacy to the 2010 election
Brazilian presidential election, 2010
The Brazilian presidential election was held in 2010 with two rounds of balloting. The first round was held on October 3 along with other elections as part of the 2010 general election...
under the Green Party ticket on May 16, 2010 in the city of Nova Iguaçu, state of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
.
Besides belonging to non-mainstream Christianity in Brazil, Silva said she wanted to be "the first African-Brazilian woman of poor origin" to become president of Brazil.
She was eliminated in the first round of presidential voting, receiving 19.4% of the votes cast. This number far exceeded earlier estimates and was responsible for forcing a runoff vote between Dilma and José Serra
José Serra
José Serra is a Brazilian politician, former secretary of state, congressman, senator, minister of Planning and Minister of Health, mayor of São Paulo and Governor of São Paulo state.-Background:...
.