Marina Silva receives French government medal created by Napoleon

Representative Marina Silva (Rede-SP), former Minister of the Environment, was decorated this Wednesday (1st July 2026) with the French Legion of Honor by the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.

The ceremony took place in the garden of the French Embassy in Brasília. Barrot is on an official visit to Brazil. On Wednesday (1st July) he signed an agreement with Minister Mauro Vieira (Foreign Affairs) to eliminate the visa requirement for Brazilians traveling to French Guiana. The territory of the European country borders Brazil.

Barrot will visit Amapá in the border area with French Guiana on Thursday (Jul 2). Then he will go to French Guiana. He is part of the government of President Emmanuel Macron (Renaissance, center).

The Legion of Honor is the highest French decoration. It was created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSE

Barrot said when decorating Marina that the Legion of Honor is a tribute to her contribution to the Environment. In his speech, he reported the difficulties that the former minister had as a child in Acre due to poverty and lack of access to education in childhood.

“Its fight unites two causes closely linked in Brazil: social justice and environmental protection”, stated Barrot.

Marina was Minister of the Environment under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) from 2003 to 2008 and from 2023 to March 2026.

Marina said that the medal is recognition of the government’s actions in the environmental area. “Since 2023, we have regained the ability to protect our biomes. We reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 50%. Throughout the country, there was a reduction of more than 32%, particularly a reduction of 63% in the Pantanal”, he stated.