Bolsonaro Names First Black Cabinet Member as Education Minister

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has nominated his first Black cabinet member to the job of education minister, replacing one of his most vocal supporters who had stepped down amid clashes with Supreme Court justices.

Carlos Alberto Decotelli, a professor and a naval reserve officer, will also be the 11th member of Brazil’s armed forces assuming a senior cabinet position. Bolsonaro made the announcement via Twitter, where he posted the incoming minister’s credentials and a photo of the two men together.

Decotelli is the third education minister nominated by Bolsonaro since his government started in 2019. He replaces Abraham Weintraub, who resigned June 18 after getting involved in a series of controversies. He had investigations authorized by the top court for allegedly using racist language to refer to the Chinese and after being accused of spreading fake news. His situation became unsustainable when he joined a street protest in Brasilia against the court.

Speaking after his appointment, Decotelli offered assurances he would not behave politically and would focus on the task at hand.

“My area is management and finance,” he told CNN Brasil, adding that he had no “competency” for ideological issues.

Read more: Brazil’s Education Minister Resigns Amid Clashes With Top Court

He was a professor at the School of Naval Warfare, and led the National Fund for Educational Development last year, before becoming the secretary of special modalities within the Ministry of Education.

“Decotelli’s nomination is an excellent sign for the educational sector and his initial speech makes it clear that he does not seek a strategy of confrontation,” said Creomar de Souza, CEO of Dharma Consulting, who added that the nomination of a Black person to the cabinet allows the administration to “resolve the problem of being accused of not being diverse.”

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