VZCZCXRO7476
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHBR #0681/01 1401113
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191113Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1712
INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 2099
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6177
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8061
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

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