Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BRASILIA1867
2005-07-13 19:58:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Brasilia
Cable title:  

BRAZIL: CABINET SHUFFLE--PART II

Tags:  PGOV PREL ECON PINR BR 
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131958Z Jul 05
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001867 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON PINR BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: CABINET SHUFFLE--PART II

REF: A. BRASILIA 1819


B. BRASILIA 1849
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001867

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON PINR BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: CABINET SHUFFLE--PART II

REF: A. BRASILIA 1819


B. BRASILIA 1849

1.(SBU) SUMMARY. The political crisis besetting the
Brazilian government is continuing to unfold (reftels).
President Lula's cabinet shuffle, which began on June 16 with
Chief of Staff Dirceu's resignation, continued this week.
Further changes are expected next week. In addition to the
four ministers (Communications, Health, Mines and Energy, and
Labor) named on Friday, Lula's office announced more changes
on July 12: four other ministers are stepping down; and a new
Education Minister was named. The offices of the Secretary
for Human Rights and Communications Secretary will lose
cabinet rank, and be folded into the Ministry of Justice and
the Chief of Staff's Office, respectively. Aldo Rebelo's
current position as Political Coordinator will be folded into
the Economic and Social Development Council in Lula's office,
led by Jaques Wagner. Biographical information at paragraph

4. END SUMMARY.

LULA'S NEW CABINET: WHO'S COMING AND WHO'S GOING
-------------- ---

2.(SBU) As previously reported (reftels),President Lula is
carrying out a cabinet shuffle, driven by corruption scandals
that have intensified dramatically over the past month and
have left Congress paralyzed. Last week, Lula named three
PMDB party members as ministers: Senator Helio Costa as
Communications Minister; Federal Deputy Saraiva Felipe as
Health Minister; and Silas Rondeau as Minister of Mines and
Energy. The President of the Sole Worker's Union (CUT),Luiz
Marinho, was named as the new Labor Minister. All four took
office earlier this week. On July 12, Lula's office
announced the latest cabinet changes:

- The offices of Political Coordinator, Human Rights, and
Communications Secretary will lose cabinet rank.

- Aldo Rebelo will step down as Political Coordinator (in
Lula's office) and return to Congress. The Office of
Political Coordinator will be folded into the Economic and
Social Development Council, headed by Jaques Wagner.

- Nilmario Miranda, Secretary for Human Rights, is resigning
to run for office in the 2006 elections. His replacement has
not yet been announced. The Office of Human Rights will lose
its cabinet rank and be folded into the Ministry of Justice.


- Luiz Gushiken, current Communications Secretary in Lula's
office, loses his rank as cabinet minister but will remain in
this position. His office will now be subordinated to Chief
of Staff Dilma Rousseff.

- Eduardo Campos is stepping down as Minister of Science and
Technology, and returning to Congress. His party, the PSB,
will keep this cabinet slot and has nominated Sergio Rezende,
president of the Ministry's FINEP (Agency for the Financing
of Studies and Projects),to fill the vacancy.

- Romero Juca, Social Security Minister, who is facing
corruption allegations separate from the scandals swirling
through Brasilia, will return to Congress. No replacement
has yet been named. However, it is likely that the position
will go to another PMDB member to satisfy the party's quota
of ministers.

- Fernando Haddad, Education Ministry Executive Secretary,
will replace Tarso Genro, who resigned as Minister to take
over as President of the PT party, as Education Minister on
July 27.

COMMENT: MORE CHANGES TO COME
--------------


3. (SBU) The recent cabinet reforms seem to suggest Lula is
shrinking and streamlining the cabinet. Even competent
ministers, untouched by the scandal (Campos, Costa, Berzoini)
are resigning early, at Lula's request, in anticipation of
the 2006 elections. Lula's selection of technical experts
as ministers--Haddock (Education),Rezende (Science and
Technology),Felipe (Health),Rondeau (Mines and Energy),and
Marinho (Labor)--indicates his inclination for "technocrats"
rather than politicians. Further cabinet reforms will be
announced next week, following President Lula's return from
Paris. The PMDB is seeking a fourth cabinet post and the PP
is seeking their first.

BIOGRAPHIES OF NEW MINISTERS
--------------

4. (SBU):

- Jaques Wagner, 54, Secretary of the Council on Economic and
Social Development (a sort of public-private think-tank in
Lula's office),will keep his position and also take over
Rebelo's as the Political Coordinator. Wagner was elected as
Federal Deputy from Bahia in 1990 and served in congress
until Lula named him Labor Minister in 2003. His legislative
focus while in the Chamber of Deputies was on labor and
consumer rights issues. In 2002, he was among the PT
gubernatorial candidates who failed to ride Lula's coattails
into office. Wagner was the founder of the PT branch in
Bahia and also founded the state's chapter of the labor
federation CUT. Because of his involvement in the student
movement in opposition to the military regime, Wagner was
forced to withdraw from the Catholic University of Rio de
Janeiro's engineering program.

- Fernando Haddad, 42, Education Ministry Executive Secretary
becomes the new Education Minister, replacing Tarso Genro who
will step down on July 27. Haddad has a law degree (1985),a
Master's in Economics (1988),and a doctorate in Philosophy
(1996). He served as President of the Academic Center of the
11th of August (1985) and is a Political Science professor at
the University of Sao Paulo. Haddad is also a member of the
Theory and Debate magazine editorial board and two other
publishing companies, as well as a member of the executive
board of Praga magazine. With a strong leftist background,
Haddad has supported Lula's stance on reforming the education
system.

- Luiz Marinho becomes the Minister of Labor, replacing
Ricardo Berzoini. Born in Cosmorama, in San Paulo state,
Marinho spent most of his youth working on a farm. He then
became a metal worker and was eventually hired as a machinery
operator at Volkswagen. Marinho was president of the Metal
Worker's Union in Sao Paulo before becoming President of the
Sole Worker's Union Federation (CUT) in 2003. In 2004, he
obtained his undergraduate degree in Law. He is close to
President Lula.

- Sergio Rezende, 65, is likely to replace Eduardo Campos as
Minister of Science and Technology. Rezende is well known in
academic and political fields. He has an undergraduate
degree in electronic engineering from the Catholic University
of Rio, a Master's and Doctorate in Physics from MIT, and was
a Fulbright Fellow. He was a professor at the Catholic
University of Rio and the University of Campinas. Rezende
helped establish the Foundation of Science and Technology
Assistance of Pernambuco (1987-90),and served as state
Secretary for Science and Technology (1995-98) in the state

SIPDIS
government of Governor Miguel Arrae, Eduardo Campos'
grandfather, and Secretary of Patrimony of the historic city
of Olinda (2001-03). In 2003, he became president of FINEP
(Agency for the Financing of Studies and Projects) in the
Science and Technology Ministry.
CHICOLA