[ad_1]
Brazil’s schooling minister resigned amid a scandal involving evangelical pastors demanding bribes
SAO PAULO — Brazil’s schooling minister resigned Monday amid a scandal involving allegations of evangelical pastors demanding bribes, months forward of the nation’s presidential election.
Brazil’s official gazette mentioned President Jair Bolsonaro accepted Milton Ribeiro’s resignation, making him the fourth schooling minister to exit because the begin of the administration in 2019.
Bolsonaro had been dealing with public stress to take away Ribeiro given the allegations may additional dent the far-right chief’s reelection probabilities in October. Conservative evangelicals have been a key constituency of Bolsonaro, who’s trailing former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in preliminary polls.
Brazilian media revealed a number of tales and leaked audio recordings since final week, alleging that two pastors served as unofficial advisers to the schooling ministry. They had been reportedly favoring municipalities run by their allies, and demanding bribes together with a kilogram of gold.
Newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that the outgoing minister mentioned Bolsonaro had approved him to take care of the 2 pastors. The newspaper posted a recording of Ribeiro telling a number of mayors that the federal government prioritized municipalities whose requests had been backed by the duo.
The Supreme Court docket has approved prosecutors to analyze. The Federal Police are additionally investigating the accusations.
Ribeiro denied any wrongdoing in a press release. He additionally mentioned he had knowledgeable police and prosecutors about suspicions of corruption of members of his ministry since August.
“There are 4 foundations that information me: God, household, honor and my nation,” Ribeiro mentioned, including that he was leaving the job so Bolsonaro’s administration was not tainted by accusations.
“I make this determination with a damaged coronary heart. I recognize the reality and I do know there must be time for reality to be reached,” he mentioned.
[ad_2]
Source link