Dispute Between Marina Silva and Dilma Rousseff Divides Chico Mendes' Family

09/03/2014 - 09h27

Marina Silva (PSB) running for president created division in the environmentalist Chico Mendes family.

On one side, the widow and two children side with the partner of rubber tapper leader at land disputes in Acre.

But his eldest daughter is campaigning for President Dilma Rousseff (PT), the party that Mendes helped fund and direct in the State.

The activist murdered in 1988 was close to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dilma's main campaigner, but he was also a friend and one of those responsible for bringing to politics the former rubber tapper Marina, today the main challenge to Dilma's reelection.

For the widow Ilzamar Mendes, 50, the former environmental minister is who best represents Chico Mendes activism ideals. She says that, if he were alive, "he would not only vote, but he would be standing near Marina."

It was through her husband that she met Marina -who, as Chico, started life by helping the family while working at a rubber plantation.

The widow says that, in the seven-year marriage to Chico, Marina often visited her home, in Xapurí, 183 km from Rio Branco.

"Marina is defending us. A Brazilian from Acre, a black woman with a righteous past, fighting in defense of the environment, of rubber tappers," said Ilzamar, which declares herself as a "natural campaigner" for Marina's candidacy.

The former minister was also the first option of Ilzamar in 2010, when she ran for presidency with the PV (Green Party). In the runoff, the widow chose José Serra (PSDB).

Ilzamar receives a US$ 1,350 life pension paid by the Union. During 2008, the Truth Commission gave amnesty to Chico Mendes, framed in 1981 at the National Security Law, and the family received US$ 152,500 in compensation.

From the other side of the campaign we find Angela Maria Mendes, 44, daughter from Chico's first marriage.

She says she voted for Marina in 2010 and signed the list to support the creation of the "Rede", the party that Marina tried to create, but today she gives her support to Dilma.

Angela claims there is "lack of concreteness" in the proposals by the former minister. "It all seems very abstract in relation to Marinas candidacy."

"Marina's utopia, I find it very cool that you want to change the world. But this we build from concrete things," she says.

The eldest of Chico Mendes says she identified with PT when she began seeking more information about the history of her father.

In 2011, she decided to join the party: since then, she is an adviser to Senator Anibal Diniz (PT-AC) and a year ago, she took over the Department of Environment in the State's party.

Even if they reveal their preferences, Chico's relatives have not yet appeared in partisan propaganda.

Translated by SIMONE PALMA

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	Eduardo Anizelli/Folhapress
	Ângela Maria Mendes, 44, daughter from Chico's first marriage, gives her support to Dilma