Brazil's education minister resigns amid evangelical scandal

Brazil’s education minister resigned amid a scandal involving evangelical pastors demanding bribes

Brazil Bolsonaro (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Brazil’s education minister resigned Monday amid a scandal involving evangelical pastors demanding bribes, months ahead of the country’s presidential election.

Brazil’s official gazette said President Jair Bolsonaro accepted Milton Ribeiro’s resignation, making him the fourth education minister to exit since the start of the administration in 2019.

Bolsonaro has been facing public pressure to remove Ribeiro given the allegations could further dent the far-right leader’s reelection chances in October. Conservative evangelicals have been a key constituency of Bolsonaro, who is trailing former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in preliminary polls.

Brazilian media published several stories and leaked audio recordings since last week, alleging that two pastors served as unofficial advisers to the education ministry. They were reportedly favoring municipalities run by their allies, and demanding bribes including a kilogram of gold.

Newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that the outgoing minister said Bolsonaro had authorized him to attend to the two pastors. The newspaper posted a recording of Ribeiro telling several mayors that the government prioritized municipalities whose requests were backed by the duo.

The Supreme Court has authorized prosecutors to investigate. The Federal Police are also investigating the accusations.