James Hider
Published at 12:01AM, July 10 2013
A
new rival to President Rousseff of Brazil has emerged in the form of a
leading environmentalist from the Amazon who shuns political parties and
warns of the imminent collapse of civilization.
Marina
Silva, an evangelical Christian and close ally of the murdered Amazon
activist Chico Mendes, emerged in recent polls as the main contender to
Mrs Rousseff, who had been considered a shoo-in for next year’s
presidential elections until nationwide street protests erupted last
month.
Of
mixed African-Portuguese heritage, Ms Silva grew up in a poor community
and was orphaned at 16. She worked as a maid to pay her way through
university and then became a union representative. As a state senator,
she tackled deforestation and big agribusiness in her native Amazon.
She
was already gaining popularity before the current social turmoil and
amassed almost 20 per cent of the vote in 2010. But the massive
outpouring of disgust at a political and economic system riddled with
corruption, inequality and violence has given the slightly built
55-year-old a huge boost.
“I’ve
been saying for a long time that we are seeing a new political
awakening all around the world and it’s finding new ways of expressing
itself,” she said. “We are seeing an activism that is no longer directed
by political parties. It is decentralized; it is leaderless.”
For
someone who does not believe in political parties or leadership — she
insists that she would stand for only one term — running for president
presents something of a paradox. But she said that she was not
deliberately seeking office, only trying to push her message for
sustainable development, combined with individual responsibility. If she
were elected, it would be a bonus.
“We
will have to learn to deal with the idea that leadership will be
multiple,” she said. “One moment you will be the leader and the next you
will be led. If there is something you could do with charisma, it’s to
convince people not to depend on charisma, but to become the subject of
your own history. We are living in a crisis of civilisation.”
Turning
that into reality will be difficult, but Ms Silva has promised that 30
per cent of the seats on her platform will go to independents.
She
has long experience of politics. She was Environment Minister under Mrs
Rousseff’s predecessor, President Lula da Silva, before quitting the
Workers’ Party to run as presidential candidate for the Greens three
years ago. Despite the scant air time given to minority parties, she
came third.
But
even the Green Party proved too mainstream and she formed her own
movement, the Sustainability Network, to challenge the constraints of
the political system, which allows only members of registered parties to
run for office.
“Brazil is a country that could make an important contribution to this world in crisis,” she said.
Now
her moment may be at hand, according to Marco Aurelio Nogueira, a
political analyst. “These protests were anti-institutional and she has
always been seen as an outsider, so she is benefiting. But it’s hard to
know whether this popularity will last.” he said.
Her
evangelical faith may not help either. She has been criticised by the
movement’s conservative wing for her liberal policies, including
proposing a referendum on abortion, still illegal in Brazil, and decriminalizing marijuana.
