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Education Minister Milton Ribeiro was recorded admitting to give priority to the release of funds through the intermediation of evangelical pastors with no connection to the government. As a result, he has been under pressure, even by the governing coalition in Congress, to explain the news, and is likely to be summoned by the Senate Education Committee. The case has eroded his reputation with part of the evangelical caucus, which supported his name for the position.
Mr. Ribeiro was caught on audio released by newspaper Folha de S.Paulo saying that he favors, at the request of President Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party, PL), the release of works intermediated by two pastors who, without having a position in the government, act to obtain funds. In exchange for the funds, the minister says in the recording that “the support we ask for is no secret.” “It is support for the construction of churches.”
The head of the Senate Education Commission (CE), Marcelo Castro (Brazilian Democratic Movement, MDB, of Piauí), announced that senators are likely to approve this week the order for the minister to provide an explanation. “If this is not influence peddling, I don’t know what influence peddling is,” he said. The request, if approved, forces the minister to appear, under penalty of incurring a crime of responsibility. “If this government were honest, with the story that we have today [in the newspapers], with the recording, he would no longer be a minister,” Senator Omar Aziz (Social Democratic Party, PSD, of Amazonas) said.
Lawmakers from opposite ends in the political spectrum asked the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR) and Federal Prosecution Service to act against President Jair Bolsonaro, Minister Ribeiro and the evangelical pastors. The presidents of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD of Minas Gerais), and of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (Progressive Party, PP, of Alagoas), called for clarification from the minister.
According to the newspaper “O Estado de S. Paulo”, the pastors are at the head of a parallel office within the Ministry of Education and participate in Mr. Ribeiro’s agendas that define the ministry’s priorities and the use of funds destined to education in the country. The funds are managed by the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE), an agency of the ministry controlled by politicians from the so-called Centrão (a cluster of right and center-right parties). Mr. Santos and Mr. Moura have no ties to the public administration.
The newspaper “Folha de S.Paulo” obtained an audio recording in which Mr. Ribeiro admits, in a private meeting, that the government prioritizes municipalities whose requests for release of funds were negotiated by the pastors. The minister claims that he meets the demands of the religious leaders at the request of President Bolsonaro. “It was a special request the president of the Republic made to me on the issue of [pastor] Gilmar”, says Mr. Ribeiro in conversation with mayors and the pastors.
“Why these two pastors, who do not have a position in the federal government and do not hold public office, would be legitimized by President Bolsonaro as interlocutors of mayors in the office of the Minister of Education, which is also headed by a pastor? We have the right to know the real story behind this free transit and direct impact on public money. The ‘parallel education office’, created by the Bolsonaro administration, directly affects the distribution of FNDE resources. We are filing representations to investigate evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors and administrative impropriety,” said the PSOL leader in the Chamber, Sâmia Bomfim (São Paulo), in a statement sent to the press.
Considered one of the most active lawmakers in the education field, deputy Tabata Amaral (Brazilian Socialist Party, PSB, of São Paulo) also went to Twitter to criticize the existence of the parallel cabinet and raised a hashtag for the departure of Mr. Ribeiro.
“The most incompetent MEC in history is also a hotbed of corruption, administrative impropriety and influence peddling. The audios in which the minister himself shows that his objective was never education are scandalous. We will demand measures from the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR). One more minister will fall,” wrote Ms. Amaral.
Mr. Ribeiro denied on Tuesday that he has benefited evangelical pastors and churches in the distribution of ministry resources, as suggested by an audio released by Folha de S.Paulo. In a press release, the minister denied any irregularity or favoritism in the transfer of funds, without citing the record of the meeting.
“Unlike what was reported, the allocation of federal resources follows the budget legislation, as well as the technical criteria of the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE),” Mr. Ribeiro said.
In the press release, the minister also denies that Mr. Bolsonaro ordered pastor Gilmar Santos to indicate the distribution of the ministry’s funds. “I also say that the president of the Republic did not ask anyone for preferential assistance, he only asked that he could receive everyone who came to us, including the people mentioned in the report,” says the minister’s statement.
According to Mr. Ribeiro, all requests for resources are sent for evaluation in the respective technical departments, “in accordance with legislation and based on the principles of legality and impersonality.”
At the head of MEC since July 2020, Mr. Ribeiro is a pastor of the Presbyterian Church and, in the press release, stated that his religious background does not influence his management.
“I reaffirm my commitment to the secularity of the State, a commitment I signed on the occasion of my inaugural speech at the head of the Ministry of Education. I emphasize that there is no hypothesis and no budget forecast that makes it possible to allocate resources to churches of any religious denomination,” he added.
Source: Valor International