Front-runner Marina Silva on track to becoming the First Black President of Brazil

Brazilan Presidential Candidate Marina Silva

Marina Silva, a front-running presidential candidate who grew up in the Amazon jungle and could become the first black person to lead Brazil’s government.

Silva, a former Amazon activist, senator and environment minister was thrust into Brazil’s presidential campaign after her Socialist Party’s original candidate Eduardo Campos, died in an August 13 plane crash.

Her appeal is far reaching – her poor background, green activism make her the deserving underdog of a long-polarized political landscape. To many, she carries the same promise of change that fueled Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign in the United States.

She describes herself as black and would be Brazil’s first non-white president. She taught herself to read and write aged 16, the same year her parents died. She joined a convent, worked as a cleaner and taught history before launching her political career. Alongside cherished former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, she helped turn the Workers’ Party into a national force, and took charge of Brazil’s green movement after dozens of environmentalists were assassinated amid a brutal surge in deforestation.

Latest poll numbers place her ahead of incumbent president Dilma Rousseff, with 48 percent of correspondents saying they would vote for her as compared to 41 percent in favor of the incumbent.

“Brazil has a great opportunity to become a global leader by leading by example,” Silva said in talking about human rights and environmental protections. “Our values cannot be modified because of ideological or political reasons, or because of pure economic interest.”

Silva first ran for president in 2010, gaining 20 percent of the vote. This time around, a sluggish economy and the promise of change make her a viable alternative.