Just after passing the mid-term and a year and a half before the next presidential election, the Brazilian head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, radically overhauled his government on Monday, March 29. No less than six ministries have changed tenants, including the very strategic ones of defense, foreign affairs and justice.
The scale of the movement took the country by surprise. Monday morning, the only change of post considered was that of the head of diplomacy, Ernesto Araujo. At 53, this conspiratorial conspiratorial, “coronasceptic”, anti-Chinese and “Trumpist” at heart, embodied, to the point of caricature, the most obscurantist wing of Bolsonarist power. With the election of Joe Biden in the United States, his exit from the stage had become inevitable.
But, at the end of the day, the news falls: Fernando Azevedo e Silva, all-powerful Minister of Defense, also announces his exit from the government. This 67-year-old 4-star general, of a placid temperament, was on the contrary perceived as one of the most pragmatic elements of the government in place. The breathtaking effect is immediate: a few hours later, a reshuffle of unprecedented magnitude is announced: ministry of justice, “Casa civil” (halfway between the functions of chief of staff and prime minister) , government secretariat …
Unexpected “sweeping”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now be occupied by Carlos Alberto Franco França, 56: a diplomat described as self-effacing, who has never held high responsibility. That of defense will be in the hands of a heavyweight, in the person of General Walter Braga Netto, who has served since February 2020 as Minister of the Civil House.
The “Civil House” will now be headed by Luiz Eduardo Ramos, another influential general known to be close to Bolsonaro, who until now held the post of minister in charge of the government secretariat. This therefore falls to Flavia Arruda, third woman in a government made up of 22 ministers.
Last major change: the Ministry of Justice. At the head of this crucial portfolio will now be found an unknown to the general public, in the person of Anderson Gustavo Torres, current Security Secretary of the Federal District of Brasilia. The outgoing minister, André Mendonça, should henceforth occupy the post of Advocate General of the Union, in charge of defending the legal interests of the government.
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