President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) changed his rhetoric this Wednesday (29) and admitted that there may be cases of embezzlement of public funds in the federal government. Until then, the Chief Executive had ruled out the possibility of episodes of corruption in the government. Now, he added to the phrase he usually uses and said that there may be illicit acts, but that there is no "endemic corruption" in his management. "In the government, we don't have any endemic corruption. There are isolated cases that pop up and we are looking for a solution to that," he said in a lecture to businessmen at an event held by the CNI (National Confederation of Industry).
The statement came a week after former Minister of Education Milton Ribeiro was arrested by the Federal Police. He was arrested in an operation that investigates a suspected business counter at the Ministry of Education and in the release of funds from the FNDE (National Fund for the Development of Education). A day later, he was released by a magistrate of second instance.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon