Brazil environment leader resigns.

• Author: Block, Ben
• Position: EYE ON EARTH - Marina Silva - Brief article

Brazil's outspoken environment minister, Marina Silva, resigned in May--a move that was widely expected after years of tension with the country's largely pro-development administration. In her resignation letter, Silva omitted specific reasons for her departure. She described her decision as "personal and irrevocable," according to media reports.

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Her departure is said to be a victory for the agricultural and livestock industries, which opposed her efforts to create national anti-deforestation measures in the Amazon and elsewhere. "Marina was the best minister that we had," said Paulo Mou-tinho, scientific coordinator of the Institute de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia.

Despite her popularity, Silva has been largely unsuccessful in her political battles with President Lula da Silva. The president ignored her opposition to two large hydroelectric projects. Her efforts to oppose the expansion of BR-163, the so-called "soy...