President Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) took to social media to announce on Monday (7) the new Minister of Education—Abraham Weintraub. He will replace Ricardo Vélez Rodriguez, who was fired the same day. Weintraub, a professor at the Federal University of São Paulo, is an economist and administration graduate of Fundação Getúlio Vargas. He was a principal aide to Onyx Lorenzoni (DEM-RS), Bolsonaro's chief of staff.
With minimal academic work, Weintraub was never involved in the politics of education like Rodríguez, his predecessor. Education specialists are worried about his lack of experience.
The change will attempt to end the crisis in the Ministry of Education and Culture. The President reaffirmed that Vélez’s resignation was motivated by management problems in the ministry and that “a ministry so important couldn’t continue to bleed.”
Although Weintraub has no affiliation with the groups that are fighting for space in the ministry, he is tuned into the ideology of Olavo de Carvalho. Due to this, the government’s military faction fears that the crisis will continue in the education ministry.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon