Brazil: Lula has chosen the new Minister for Human Rights

(ANSA) – BRASILIA, SEPTEMBER 9 – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva confirmed a short while ago that the 59-year-old state representative of Minas Gerais from the Workers’ Party (PT), Macaé Evaristo, will be the new Minister of Human Rights, replacing Silvio Almeida, who was dismissed last Friday due to a series of sexual harassment allegations against him. “Today I asked Representative Macaé Evaristo to take over the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship. She accepted. I will soon sign her nomination. Welcome and good work to you,” Lula wrote on his social media. Macaé Evaristo, cousin of writer and activist Conceição Evaristo, accepted after the ministry had been led ad interim by the Minister of Management and Innovation, Esther Dweck, in recent days. A teacher since the age of 19, with a degree in Social Work, a master’s degree and a doctorate in pedagogy, Macaé Evaristo had already worked for the government of Brasilia, between 2013 and 2014 during the presidency of Dilma Rousseff, when she led the Secretariat for Training, Literacy, Diversity and Inclusion of the Ministry of Education. (ANSA).