Marina Silva began political career as rubber tapper activist
Born as Maria Osmarina Silva de Souza in the Brazilian Amazon state of Acre, the former senator and former environment minister Marina Silva, now a candidate running for president, began her political career deeply engaged with the rubber tapper activism of the 1980s and the rights of forest communities.
A daughter of rubber tappers, she had a poor childhood. She inherited health problems related to mercury contamination, resulting from water polluted by mining activity in her home area.
Only at the age of 16 did she learn to read and write in an adult literacy teaching program rolled out by the military government in the 1970s. Facing extremely poor conditions, she began an undergraduate course in History at the Federal University of Acre.
Marina Silva was a founding member of the Central Workers' Union (CUT) and the Workers' Party (PT) in Acre. She was first elected for public office as a local councilwoman in capital Rio Branco in 1988, and then as a state legislator in 1990. In 1994 at age 36, she became the youngest female senator elected in the country by then. She was re-elected in 2002 but resigned in 2003 to take over as environment minister in the first ruling term of then-president Lula. She remained as minister until 2008, when she stood down for disagreements with other government members.
The following year, Marina Silva left the Workers' Party, in what she regards as the hardest decisions she has ever made. She joined the Green Party (PV) and ran for president in 2010, coming third in the first round with nearly 20 million votes.
Marina Silva remained a PV member until 2011, when she decided to create a new political party. In 2013, along with other supporters, she announced that she had reached the required membership to create the Sustainability Network (REDE). However, some of the signatures were annulled by electoral registries and the party became ineligible to register with the Electoral Court.
In October of the same year, she was invited by Eduardo Campos to form a ticket to run for presidency in 2014, and joined the PSB as Campos's running mate for the presidential bid. From the beginning, she publicly announced that she would not give up pursuing official recognition for her Sustainability Network. The new party focuses on environmental issues, sustainability, and improving living conditions for the general population and forest dwellers in particular. She has also said that she will leave the PSB to devote her efforts to the new party as soon the possibility arises.
Following Campos's fatal air crash little more than 50 days before the election, Marina Silva was chosen by the PSB to replace Campos on the party ticket. In the first election poll after the incident, which already included her name among presidential candidates, she came second with 21% of voting intentions, which is technically considered to be a draw with PSDB candidate Aécio Neves.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Marina Silva began political career as rubber tapper activist
