Good morning! Today, sackings in the cabinet and at Petrobras. A push for more control over the Armed Forces. And the president’s new health woes.
Education Minister, Petrobras CEO lose their jobs
Yesterday saw important sackings in Brasília, with both the Education Minister and the Chief Executive Officer at Petrobras, Brazil’s giant state-controlled oil company, losing their jobs.
Education. Milton Ribeiro did not manage to hold out in the face of recent scandals in the Education Ministry. He was caught on tape saying that, at the request of President Jair Bolsonaro, he had yielded control over a national fund for the development of educational policies to two Evangelical preachers. Multiple mayors say the funds are conditional on kickbacks being paid out.
- The nail in the coffin was the revelation that the government sponsored an event in which attendants received a bible with pictures of Mr. Ribeiro and the two preachers in question.
- With Mr. Ribeiro now toxic, evangelical groups who had vouched for him in the past abandoned the minister, making his situation untenable.
Petrobras. In what looks like a diversionary tactic, the government attempted to muffle talk of Mr. Ribeiro’s departure with the announcement that it will pull Joaquim...