The president-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, announced this Thursday 16 of his next ministers and included among them, as head of Industry and Commerce, the future vice president, Geraldo Alckmin.
Lula will assume the presidency on January 1 and has announced that he will bring the number of ministries to 37, compared to 23 for the government of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, whom he narrowly defeated in the second round of last October’s elections.
This Thursday, the leader of the Workers’ Party announced his future ministers of Institutional Relations, General Secretariat, General Council, Comptroller, Health, Industry and Commerce, Education, Management, Ports and Airports, Science and Technology, Women, Social Development, Culture, work, racial equality and human rights.
In the last two cases, highly symbolic appointments.
In early December, the president-elect had already confirmed that the former mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad, will be the finance minister, and the famous diplomat Mauro Vieira will take over as foreign minister.
For Racial Equality, he named activist Anielle Franco, sister of councilor Marielle Franco, who was murdered along with her driver in March 2018, and also a strong human rights defender.
In the portfolio of human rights will be the lawyer Sílvio Almeida, recognized for his fight against racismJust like Arielle Franco.
Cida Gonçalves, future minister of women, is a specialist in the fight gender-based violence and it supposes another step towards the strong social accent that Lula has promised to give to his administration.
Another nod in that direction was given by Health, a ministry for which it appointed Nísia Trindade, until now a researcher at the FioCruz Foundation, one of the country’s major scientific references and who has played a key role in tackling the pandemic covid. 19, minimized from the beginning by the Bolsonaro government.
All other appointments had a more political character.
Geraldo Alckmin: vice president and minister
In the case of Alckmin, who will share his job in the vice presidency with the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade, Lula explained that he would have wanted a businessman for the position, but that he couldn’t “convince anyone” for this reason he has chosen who will be “one of the best ministers of the future government”.
Alckmin, who was a member of the centre-right PSDB party and was a tenacious opponent of Lula – they faced each other at the polls in 2006 – has shown conservative positions in the past. And it is one of Lula’s letters that demonstrates that in the next legislature he will maintain a moderate position.
Former Piauí state governor Wellington Dias, of the Workers’ Party (PT), will be in charge of the Social Development portfolio, a new ministry focused on caring for the poorest, the top priority outlined by Lula for his third term.
The Treasury has chosen Fernando Haddad, a man of its utmost confidence, like Rui Costa, who will occupy the ministry of the Presidency.
The Farnesina will be led by Mauro Vieira, a career diplomat who held this position between 2015 and 2016, during the administration of Dilma Rousseff.
The defense minister will be José Múcio, former director of the Court of Auditors, the body that oversees public accounts, and has a long and excellent relationship with the Armed Forces.
The Justice portfolio was entrusted to Flávio Dino, a politician close to Lula who was the former governor of Maranhao and won a seat in the Senate in the elections last October.
Source: EFE
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Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.