Brazil: Jair Bolsonaro reshuffles his government and announces six changes of ministers
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reshuffles his government and announces the departure of six ministers.
EVARISTO SA AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reshuffled his government on Monday, March 29, with six changes of ministers, including those of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Defense.
This was announced by the Ministry of Communications in a press release.
The departure of the Brazilian foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, was expected, the latter being implicated in the fiasco of the policy against the coronavirus which killed nearly 314,000 people in Brazil, but the other changes took them by surprise. observers.
Publicity
Read more
Almost four months after reaching half of his four-year term,
President Bolsonaro
also changed the post of Minister of Casa Civil, halfway between Chief of Staff and Prime Minister, that of Advocate General of the Union, responsible for the defense of the country's legal interests.
This reshuffle also marks the arrival of a third woman in this government, out of 22 ministers in total, the deputy Flavia Arruda, in the secretariat of the Presidency.
Two weeks ago, another important change took place at the head of the Ministry of Health, General Eduardo Pazuello having been replaced by cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga.
He is the fourth Minister of Health since the start of the epidemic in Brazil.
The departure of two pillars of government
These two “historic” ministers who had been part of the government since the start of the term of the far-right president in January 2019, had very different profiles.
Former Chief of Staff, Reserve General Fernando Azevedo e Silva, who left the Defense Ministry, was part of the “military wing” of the government, deemed less extremist and more pragmatic.
Ernesto Araujo, on the contrary, is one of the most enthusiastic ideologues, who has broken the tradition of multilateralism in Brazilian diplomacy, and whom parliamentarians accuse of having been responsible for the delays in the delivery of imported doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines. and active ingredients to manufacture them due to its strained relationship with China.
Efforts to "
reserve the Army as a State institution
"
The departures of General Pazuello and Ernesto Araujo were expected, after weeks of wear and tear and repeated criticism from parliamentarians who are allies of the government.
But that of Fernando Azevedo e Silva took everyone by surprise.
In a brief statement, he assured to have been "
entirely loyal
" to President Jair Bolsonaro.
But he also wishes to underline his efforts to “
preserve the army as a state institution
”.
Sources quoted by the newspaper
O Globo
reveal that the minister was uncomfortable because of demonstrations by pro-Bolsonaro militants nostalgic for the military dictatorship (1964-1985) and demanding an "intervention" by the Army against Parliament and the Supreme Court.
According to the
Globonews
news
channel
, the Minister of Defense left his post at the request of the Head of State, who announced his decision to him during a meeting of only five minutes.
Assumed diplomatic isolation
Shortly before the announcement of the change in the Defense Ministry, a government source confirmed to AFP that Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo had tendered his resignation.
The head of diplomacy had been under pressure for several weeks.
He was implicated in
the fiasco of the fight against the coronavirus in Brazil
, which has killed more than 312,000 people in one year.
“
Many mistakes have been made in the fight against the pandemic;
one of them is the absence of productive diplomatic relations with countries which could have collaborated with Brazil at this time of crisis,
”thus lamented the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, last week.
A whimsical figure, Ernesto Araujo, 53, was one of the most enthusiastic members of the "ideological wing" of the Bolsonaro government, a staunch detractor of globalization and a fervent admirer of former US President Donald Trump.
He has never ceased to castigate "
cultural Marxism
" which "
influenced the scientific dogma of global warming
".
Ernesto Araujo has often angered "Maoist" China with his provocative statements, while Beijing is Brazil's largest trading partner.
Last October, he admitted that Brazil's diplomatic isolation was not much of a problem for him.
“
Yes, Brazil talks about freedom all over the world.
If that makes us an outcast, let us be this outcast,
”he said in front of students from the Rio Branco Institute, which trains future diplomats in Brazil.
One of the personalities approached to replace him is the current Brazilian Ambassador to France, Luiz Fernando Serra
(With
AFP
)
- Alteramosa titularidade of 6 ministérios nesta segunda-feira (29).
As seguintes nomeações serão publicadas no Diário Oficial, a saber:
• Ministério da Defesa: General Walter Souza Braga Netto;
• Ministério das Relações Exteriores: Embaixador Carlos Alberto Franco França;
- Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) March 29, 2021
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Brazil
Jair Bolsonaro
Coronavirus
On the same subject
Covid: the race for 100% Brazilian vaccines is on
Covid-19 in Brazil: "paltry" aid and restrictions, the poorest caught by the throat