Mail Online, 7/29/2012
A political row has blown up over a Brazilian environmental campaigner being chosen to carry the Olympic flag in the London 2012 opening ceremony.
Marina Silva is a high-profile campaigner for the protection of the Amazon rainforests but is also the leader of a political party opposed to the current Brazil government.
As Rio de Janeiro is hosting the 2016 Games, many Brazilian politicians were in the Olympic Stadium for the ceremony and reacted angrily to her inclusion – Brazil’s current president Dilma Rousseff said she had had no idea she would be involved.
Marco Maia, the speaker of Brazil’s parliament, told reporters: ‘The IOC should be more careful.’
Aldo Rebelo, Brazil’s sports minister, said he was not surprised about her participation, saying: ‘Marina has always been a sweetheart among the aristocracies of Europe.’
[...] contentious moment following the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. In attendance was President Dilma Rousseff, who became surprised as she watched Marina Silva, an Amazon rainforest campaigner carrying the Olympic Flag into the stadium. While Silva is an [...]