
(RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil) — Renowned rain forest defender Marina Silva resigned as Brazil's environment minister on Tuesday, saying she lacked the necessary political support to protect the Amazon.
Marina Silva was a colleague of Brazil's most renowned rain forest activist, Chico Mendes, who was shot to death in 1988 in the western Amazon state of Acre. She earned a reputation for defying developers and setting stringent conditions for logging permits and environmental licenses.
Her positions antagonized pro-development ministers within the current government as they sought to boost Brazil's economic growth with agricultural commodities often cultivated in cleared jungle. Speculation arose that President Silva wanted to fire her but feared she would gain martyr status as an environmentalist.
Silva's office did not immediately comment on the resignation.
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