BRAZIL'S ENVIRONMENT MINISTER MARINA SILVA RESIGNS -

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000681 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/PCI - N. FITE AND L.SPERLING DEPT FOR OES/ENCR - S.CASWELL DEPT FOR WHA/BSC - B.CHIANG AND D. SCHNIER DEPT FOR USAID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL'S ENVIRONMENT MINISTER MARINA SILVA RESIGNS - "PRAGAMATIST" PICKED TO REPLACE BRASILIA 00000681 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY. Frustrated by a growing string of defeats and cuts to her authority, Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva resigned on May 13. Her ministry's slow pace in approving environmental licenses was viewed as an obstacle to President Lula's program to accelerate growth (PAC). Environmental Secretary for the State of Rio de Janeiro Carlos Minc Baumfeld has been selected to replace Marina Silva. He has a reputation for issuing licenses quickly. President Lula has declared that the country's environmental policies will not change. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) Rather than see her authority erode even further, Brazil's iconic Environment Minister Marina Silva left the stage at a time of her own choosing. She resigned on May 13, after five and a half years in office. She and her political ally President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva have drifted apart over the years, evidenced by her leaving it to the press to inform him of her decision. In her resignation letter to President Lula she wrote that "this difficult decision stems from the difficulties that I have encountered for some time now pursuing a federal environment agenda." She added that despite the progress they have made, "the difficult tasks that the government still confronts signal that it is necessary to reconstruct and sustain policies for an environmental agenda." She concluded, "I leave your government with a clear conscience and certainty that during these years of beneficial relationship we have done something relevant for Brazil." Marina Silva now returns to the seat in the Senate she vacated in 2003. ¶4. (SBU) During President Lula's first term (2003-2006),Marina Silva had a good run despite a number of defeats in inter-ministerial tussles, such as the decision to allow biotech soybeans in Brazil. She expanded the number of protected areas, oversaw the reorganization of the Environment Ministry, including the creation of the Brazilian Forest Service and the Chico Mendes Institute (to manage conservation units),arranged for Brazil to host the March 2006 Conference of the Parties of the Convention on the Biodiversity, and prevailed over the powerful Agriculture Ministry in support of the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol. One of her proudest accomplishments was contributing to a sharp decline in the deforestation rate (from 27,000 square kilometers in 2003-2004 to 11,000 square kilometers for the 2006-2007.) She deserves much credit for her part in raising consciousness among the political elite about the importance of reducing deforestation. ¶5. (SBU) President Lula's second term has focused on economic growth, with his Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff pressing forcefully for the Program for Accelerating Growth (PAC). Lula openly explored the possibility of replacing Marina Silva at the outset of the term. Since then Marina Silva has clashed with Lula, Rousseff, Agriculture Minister Stephanes, and others. Last year President Lula publicly complained about her ministry's slow pace in issuing environmental permits for two PAC hydroelectric projects on the Rio Madeira. She lost disputes over use of biotech corn, construction of more nuclear reactors, and implementation of measures to combat the dramatic resurgence in deforestation in the last eight months. The last straw came when President Lula earlier this month stripped her ministry of responsibility for coordinating the strategic plan (SEPTEL) for the management of the Amazon forest, instead giving authority to his long-term planning advisor, Minister Roberto Mangabeira Unger. THE REPLACEMENT - A PRAGMATIST ¶6. (SBU) On May 14, 2008, President Lula announced that Environmental Secretary for the State of Rio de Janeiro Carlos Minc Baumfeld would replace Marina Silva. Minc has two characteristics that made him particularly attractive to President Lula and his Chief of Staff Rousseff. First, he was a militant along the side of Rousseff against the military dictatorship. Second, he issued the license for the partially state-owned energy company Petrobras' US$ 8.3 billion Itaborai Petrochemical Complex (COMPERJ) in record time. In 17 months as State Secretary of Environment for Rio de Janeiro, Minc cut in half the time to issue an environmental permit. His office issued 2,068 environmental licenses, though they tend to be for smaller scale projects than ones requiring federal licenses. Lula has described Minc as an environmentalist who brings solutions BRASILIA 00000681 002.2 OF 002 instead of problems. ¶7. (SBU) President Lula has declared that the country's environmental policies will not change. COMMENT. If the PAC's Achilles Heel has been obtaining environment licenses, then this change in ministers could make a major difference to that program. At the same time, doubts are already being expressed whether Minc can and will be as strong a voice for protecting the Amazon as Marina Silva. Various NGOs, such as the Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, are calling it a step backwards. Others are openly pleased. The Union of Democratic Ruralists, which differed with Marina Silva on farming in the Amazon, is pleased and looking to see an end to "repressive" policies. Vice President of the National Agriculture Confederation Katia Abreu opined, "We will no longer be commanded by ideology at the expense of reason." END COMMENT. ¶8. (SBU) Two of Marina Silva's top deputies, President of the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA) Bazileu Alves Margarido Neto and Acting President of the Chico Mendes Institute Joao Capobianco, have also submitted their resignations. Post has learned that they will remain in office until their replacements have been named. COMMENT ¶9. (SBU) Marina Silva may be leaving at an opportune moment. The reduction in the rate of deforestation, a lauded international success, looks like it has taken a turn for the worse. Minc's arrival at a minimum should lead to a shake up of the licensing process. In fact, he has already called for a new law on licensing. Further, serious urban environmental issues may receive greater attention with Minc at the helm. However, despite the wishes of Lula and Rousseff, the issue of the high rate of deforestation will continue to attract tremendous international attention. Many predict the deforestation rate will rise sharply for the 2007-2008 period; the government is expected to release these annual deforestation numbers in September 2008. END COMMENT. BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ¶10. (U) Carlos Minc Baumfeld has been the Secretary for Rio de Janeiro State Environment Department since the end of 2006. He was one one of the founders of the Brazilian Green Party (PV) in 1986 in Rio de Janeiro with other ecologists, artists, intellectuals and activists mainly from the anti-nuclear movement. He was elected a Rio de Janeiro State Deputy in 1986 for the Green Party (PV) and re-elected from the Workers Party (PT) in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and ¶2006. In 2006, he garnered the most votes for a deputy in Rio de Janeiro. In November 2006, the Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro Sergio Cabral (PMDB) selected Minc to be his State Secretary of Environment. During the 1960's, Minc was a student leader and acted as the vice president of the Metropolitan Students Association (AMES) when he was 18 years old. He was arrested in 1969 by the military dictatorship and exiled in Europe. He returned to Brazil in 1979 under the amnesty law. In 1989, the United Nations gave Minc a 500 Global Award for his efforts on the environment defense. His parliamentary activity prioritized the defense of the environment, public security, welfare to work and political ethics. Minc has a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Technical University of Lisbon, and a Doctorate in Development Economy from Paris University - Sorbonne. He worked as a professor of the Department of Geography of the Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ). Carlos Minc is Jewish and was born in Rio de Janeiro in July 12, ¶1951. He is married and has two children. CHICOLA